A Foucauldian Perspective on Covid-19 Response

Abstract

Coronavirus Disease 2019, originated in Wuhan city of China, has been spreading across the world from December 2019 to till now with 55 million confirmed cases in 191 countries and nearly 1.3 million people deaths. As there is no vaccine available, the government and other institutions are taking measures to protect the people from this highly infectious disease. As the purpose of this paper is to define method and relate the more suitable method with Covid-2019 pandemic, in the introductory part, it has defined method and types of methods. It has also provided an overview of Post Structuralism, as a relevant method in explaining Covid-19 responses. Then, in a deeper way, this paper has discussed Foucault's concept of power: biopower, sovereign power and disciplinary power and examines its relevance with Covid-19 measures. It has also focused on the term ‘New Normal’- the normalization of abnormal during Covid-19. Finally, the paper concluded with acknowledging the critiques of Foucault theories and limitations of the paper in explaining some of the aspects of ongoing pandemic.