Standard Lemma guide

biopolitics

noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

The interdisciplinary studies relating biology and political science.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Politics (style of government) that regulates populations through biopower.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Anticapitalist insurrection using life and the body as weapons.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

The political application of bioethics.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A political spectrum that reflects positions towards the sociopolitical consequences of biotechnology.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From bio- + politics. Sense 2 was developed by Michel Foucault in The History of Sexuality (1976), sense 3 by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri in Empire (2000).

Across languages

Translations

5 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 生命政治 (shēngmìng zhèngzhì) — Translations
  • Finnish: biopolitiikka — Translations
  • German: Biopolitik — Translations
  • Greek: βιοπολιτική (viopolitikí) — Translations
  • Serbo-Croatian: biopolitika — Translations
Real reading context

biopolitics in complete knowledge articles