Desynchronization of the Public and the Private: The Transformation of Biocapitalism in the Coronavirus Context

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

  • Sergei Y. Shevchenko
  • Volha Davydzik
  • Nadzeya S. Ilyushenko
  • Kirill A. Petrov
The article deals with the temporal aspect of bicapitalism functioning, which experiences significant transformations in the conditions of outspreading of coronavirus infection. The сentral theoretical point refers the idea of temporal forms multiplicity. This conception was developed in the framework of time studies, by such authors as H. Novotny and F. Braudel. The emergence of biotechnologies which forms new local temporalities, determines the understanding of existence types and modes of biocapitalism functioning. However, the transformation of biological life into an economic resource, which is the core of the phenomenon of biocapitalism, is undergoing significant changes in the context of a coronavirus pandemic. The previously existing correlation of many biological and social temporalities (labor, sleep, reproduction, disease) was brought into chaos, and their dissynchronization occurred. The usual mechanics of biocapitalism functioning at the junctions of these temporalities were called into question. The failure of direct technological control over biological time, the time of virus spreading, turns social temporalities into the subject of such control. The private, everyday, and global, universal values of biological life and biotechnologies have changed, including the shift in the vector of technological hopes. This article demonstrates that time is not a universal resource available to everyone. Existing biotechnologies transform the relationship to biological time. Biocapital eliminates the traditional dichotomy between public and private by changing temporal regimes. The dissolution of the private determines the strengthening of the processes of capitalization of life and health. These temporal aspects of biocapitalism affect social dynamics, contributing to greater fragmentation of existing social classes.
Original languageEnglish
JournalChelovek
Volume31
Issue number6
Pages (from-to)50-67
Number of pages18
ISSN0236-2007
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020

    Research areas

  • Cultural studies - temporality, biocapitalism, control, Discipline, pandemic, public, private

Recently viewed

Publications

  1. An Adaptive Resonance Regulator for an Actuator using Periodic Signals in Camless Engine Systems
  2. Datenstrukturen & Algorithmen
  3. A Robust Approximated Derivative Action of a PID Regulator to be Applied in a Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor Control
  4. Perfectly nested or significantly nested - an important difference for conservation management
  5. The role of plant biodiversity in modifying the structure and functioning of higher tropic Levels in species-rich forests
  6. The polarity field concept
  7. Tree diversity promotes functional dissimilarity and maintains functional richness despite species loss in predator assemblages
  8. Collaborative business in supply chains - a system dynamics approach
  9. Challenges in political interviews
  10. Digital Business Transformation and the Changing Role of the IT Function
  11. A Model Based Feedforward Regulator Improving PI Control of an Ice-Clamping Device Activated by Thermoelectric Cooler
  12. Доля на внутрішньому ринку“ для України в рамках Угоди про асоціацію між Україною та ЄС
  13. Erratum: Formalised and non-formalised methods in resource management-knowledge and social learning in participatory processes
  14. Operationalizing Network Theory for Ecosystem Service Assessments
  15. A single PD plus gravity compensation control for global asymptotic regulation of robot manipulators with actuator constraints
  16. Parameters, concepts and the terminology of outer space law: a review of the essential facilities served by outer space activities and the rules of interpretation for treaty law and soft law guidelines.
  17. Erroneous Examples: A Preliminary Investigation into Learning Benefits
  18. The pace of range expansion
  19. How Big Does Big Data Need to Be?
  20. Linking trait similarity to interspecific spatial associations in a moist tropical forest
  21. Lengthscale-dependent modelling of ductile failure in metallic microstructures
  22. Consumers' Responses to CSR Activities
  23. Forgetting fire
  24. Standing Still
  25. Effect of a Web-Based Guided Self-Help Intervention for Prevention of Major Depression in Adults with Subthreshold Depression
  26. Thermodynamic description of reactions between Mg and CaO
  27. Introduction to the basics of life cycle sustainability assessment focusing on the UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative LCSA framework
  28. Deactivation and transformation products in biodegradability testing of ß-lactams amoxicillin and piperacillin
  29. Ideology as filter
  30. Long-term retrospective analysis of the societal metabolism of cobalt in the European Union
  31. Robust Control using Sliding Mode Approach for Ice-Clamping Device activated by Thermoelectric Coolers
  32. Landscape modification and habitat fragmentation: a synthesis
  33. The value of local environmental knowledge to monitor and manage changing coral reef systems in Kiribati
  34. Implementierung eines Fehlerpräventionsprogramms für gefahrenintensive Arbeitsprozesse
  35. Diversity and specialization of host parasitoid interactions in an urban rural interface
  36. Integratives Gendering in der Lehre
  37. Hydrological tracers for assessing transport and dissipation processes of pesticides in a model constructed wetland system

Press / Media

  1. TourKon on Board