ABSTRACT
The concept of biopolitics has had a remarkable career. Until recently only a small number of specialists were familiar with it, but at present it is enjoying ever-greater resonance. The spectrum of its uses now extends from refugee policies to AIDS prevention and onward to questions regarding population growth.1 The concept has become a universal cipher for encapsulating the general results of biological knowledge and bio-technical innovation; it designates a diffuse mix composed of ethical concerns, political challenges, and economic interests (see Anderson 1987; Gerhardt 2004).
