Theorizing at Rowan: Biopower at 50 - A Symposium
Foucault's introduction of the concept of 'biopower' will have its 50th anniversary in 2026. In anticipation of this landmark, we are bringing together a wide-ranging group of scholars to explore the history, present, and future of the biopower framework.
If you're planning on attending, please register to aid in our planning. (If you cannot attend in person and would like to request remote access via Zoom, please email the organizer.)
Schedule (Updated Nov 6)
All events will be held in Discovery Hall, Room 207.
Day 1: Friday November 8, 2024
10:00 am – 10:30 am Coffee, Welcome and Opening Remarks
Welcome and Opening Remarks — Edward Kazarian, Rowan University
10:30 pm – 12:00 pm Session 1
Necropower’s Indigestible Remainder — Kris Sealey, Pennsylvania State University
The Gene, The Market, The Platform: Roots and Futures of Biopolitics — Patrick Gamez, University of Notre Dame
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm Lunch
1:00 pm – 3:15 pm Session 2
The Government of Sex: Biopower and its Limit — Christopher Breu, Illinois State University
(Cis)Society Must Be Defended — Perry Zurn, American University
Notes on Reading: Biopower and Trans/Femme of Color Hermeneutics — Tamsin Kimoto, Washington University in St. Louis
3:15 pm – 3:30 pm Afternoon Break
3:30 pm – 5:00 pm Session 3
Vibes, Vectors, and the Biopolitics of Algorithmic Legitimation — Robin James, Independent Scholar
Biopower’s Ways of Seeing — Corey McCall, Cornell University Prison Education Program
Day 2: Saturday, November 9, 2024
9:30 am – 10:00 am Coffee
10:00 am – 12:15 pm Session 4
Gendered Biopolitics: Using Foucault to Theorize Epistemic Constructions of Sex in South Asia — Suroor Hassan, University of Memphis
Decolonizing Damiens: The Coloniality of Sovereignty and Government by Terror — Ege Selin Islekel, Texas A&M University
El Último Trago: Addiction, Necropolitics, and Colonial Ableism in the Americas — Andrea Pitts, University of Buffalo
12:15 pm – 1:15 pm Lunch Break
1:15 pm – 3:30 pm Session 5
Populations, Corporations, and Counter-Conducts — Ladelle McWhorter, University of Richmond
When Biopower goes to Court: Toward a Genealogy of Probability, Chance, and the Law — Gordon Hull, University of North Carolina, Charlotte
Death and Abjection; or, Race after Biopower — John Drabinski, University of Maryland
3:30 pm – 3:45 pm Closing Remarks
Closing Remarks — Edward Kazarian, Rowan University
Parking Info
Visitors to Rowan can obtain a Visitor Day Pass free of charge and valid between the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. at the Welcome Gate – (located on Rt. 322 across from the Student Center, Parking lot H). A guard is available at the booth Monday through Thursday from 7:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. and on Friday from 7:00 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.