Abstract
Since the beginning of Covid-19 pandemic, the concept of immunity has become a central and recurring theme in the medical, political and public debates regarding the spread of coronavirus and the fight against it. Whether in terms of the contentious notion of herd immunity, the geopolitical struggle for vaccines, or the possible deployment of so-called immunity/vaccine passports, what is evident is that immunity is precisely what brings the biological and the political even closer during the current pandemic, as life itself becomes the primary site for enacting policies of defence and pre-emption at the corporeal level while strengthening the state’s control of its subject, all in the name of protecting and immunising the population. In this study, I examine the notion of immunity not only as a medical concept or a biological reality but also as a biopolitical rationality of governing that structures the boundaries between self and other, the inside and the outside and a whole host of other dualities underpinning Western politics. In doing so, I look at the discourses of immunity circulating in the governmental, scientific and public debates on Covid-19 as well and the technologies and techniques that have been mobilised to immunise and protect the population against coronavirus. This shall give us an insight into how immunity is understood and used to legitimise certain governmental responses and measures. At the same time, Covid-19 presents an opportunity to rethink the meaning and function of immunity beyond its traditional juridically-inspired scientific definitions of self/non-self-discrimination, exemption and defence.
Presenters
Btihaj AjanaProfessor, Departments of Digital Humanities, King’s College London, United Kingdom
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2022 Special Focus—What to Make of Crises: Emerging Methods, Principles, Actions
KEYWORDS
Covid-19, Immunity, Biopolitics, Governance, Surveillance, Health, Pandemics
