Pandemic Necropolitics: Vulnerability, Resilience, and the Crisis of Marginalization in the Liberal Democratic State

Stefania Achella & Chantal Marazia, ed., Vulnerability in Post-pandemic. Medicine, Politics, Humanities (Springer Nature), forthcoming.

14 Pages Posted: 16 Mar 2023

See all articles by Ubaka Ogbogu

Ubaka Ogbogu

Faculty of Law, University of Alberta; University of Alberta - Faculty of Law

Date Written: March 11, 2023

Abstract

Vulnerability, marginalization, and resilience in the pandemic and in an eventual “post-pandemic” state are examined through the lens of Achille Mbembe’s theory of necropolitics. The central claim made is that vulnerability and marginalization are products of a covert and intentional politics of death. It is also argued that for the vulnerable and marginalized, the pandemic does not demarcate between a previous normal and eventual normal state, but is rather, an escalation of a persistently abnormal state. A final claim is that reflection on the fate of the vulnerable and marginalized must resist a Kantian impulse to find and urge resilience and focus instead on a direct attack on the necropolitics that sustains suffering for this population.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, necropolitics, vulnerability, resilience, marginalization, solidarity

JEL Classification: I14, I18, K32, Z38

Suggested Citation

Ogbogu, Ubaka, Pandemic Necropolitics: Vulnerability, Resilience, and the Crisis of Marginalization in the Liberal Democratic State (March 11, 2023). Stefania Achella & Chantal Marazia, ed., Vulnerability in Post-pandemic. Medicine, Politics, Humanities (Springer Nature), forthcoming., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4385314 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4385314

Ubaka Ogbogu (Contact Author)

Faculty of Law, University of Alberta ( email )

Law Centre (111 - 89 Ave)
Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2H5
Canada
7804924924 (Fax)

University of Alberta - Faculty of Law ( email )

Law Centre (111 - 89 Ave)
Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2H5
Canada
7804924924 (Fax)

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