Dignity and Power: Biopolitics in Contemporary Literature and Philosophy

This book is a multidisciplinary critique of the frequently invoked but seldom questioned notion of “human dignity,” a discursive tool that is subtly serving abusive power structures while seemingly promoting human rights. The discourse of human dignity misrepresents the meaning of empowerment for modern citizens, making them interested more in political gestures and less in profit, comfort and protection from abuse. Academics interested in the concepts of power and biopolitics, especially as articulated by European philosophers Michel Foucault and Georgio Agamben, and/or engaged with the works of non-native novelists of the English canon such as J. M. Coetzee and Kazuo Ishiguro, will find the insights of this book highly beneficial. This is a critical contribution to the intersectional study of literature and ethics.