ABSTRACT
Foucault demonstrates that liberalism is characterized by a culture of danger that permanently threatens the freedom it produces. The Birth of Biopolitics is closely linked to the emergence of liberal forms of government. Foucault conceives of liberalism not as an economic theory or a political ideology but as a specific art of governing human beings. According to Foucault, freedom is neither an anthropological constant nor a historical universal that is confined or respected by different societies. Foucault presents his ideas about the problems and perspectives of the social security system. The concept of technologies of security presents a fruitful analytical tool for social theory and empirical investigations for several reasons. The government of populations and individuals operates by technologies of fear that present society as an exposed community, thus promoting an individual retreat to privacy. Transience, instability, and uncertainty are elementary ingredients of liberal government, in which freedom and fear refer to one another.
