The Dehumanization of the Fordian Society. Foucauldian Biopower in Aldous Huxley’s "Brave New World"

Hausarbeit , 2022 , 19 Seiten , Note: 1,0

Anglistik - Literatur

In Brave New World Aldous Huxley explores a dystopian scenario of a centuries-away future where a totalitarian regime utilizes scientific advancements and disciplinary conditioning to form the human species to their vision. Huxley’s novel explores what happens when society fully cedes its power to a government that subsequently utilizes scientific advancement to improve their control over said society.

Using Michel Foucault’s power theory and his concept of biopower, I will analyze how the government of Huxley’s World State successfully exerts biopower by combining regulation of the population and conditioning of the individual to create a hamster wheel of a society that spins in an era of everlasting contentment.

I will first outline the beginnings of political power theory at the examples of enlightenment philosophers Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau and then transition into a more modern perspective on power by twentieth century French philosopher Michel Foucault. The gained insights on political power philosophy I will then apply to Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and analyze the government’s utilization of the examined power variants and to which success they exert these.

Table of Contents

1 Introduction

2.1 Traditional Perspectives on Political Power
2.2 Foucault's Power Theory

3 Biopower in Brave New World

4 Conclusion

5 Works Cited

• Hochschule: Universität Bielefeld
• Note: 1,0
• Erscheinungsjahr: 2022
• Seiten: 19
• Katalognummer: V1248891
• ISBN (PDF): 9783346682918
• ISBN (Buch): 9783346682925
• Sprache: Englisch
• Schlagworte: dehumanization, fordian, society, foucauldian, biopower, aldous, huxley’s, brave, world