In: Political geography: an interdisciplinary journal for all students of political studies with an interest in the geographical and spatial aspects, Band 107, S. 102981
This article explores the limitations of the oft-used biopolitical frameworks of interpreting the regulatory emergency measures that have been enacted worldwide in the face of the spreading pandemic of COVID-19. Not only have the state responses to coronavirus often been beset by manner of "biopolitical failures," it is also the Foucauldian emphasis on the top-down formation and application of immunity that produces a view of health security that is much too narrow. In proposing an alternative framework, the article draws from the spherology of Peter Sloterdijk and suggests a transition from bio- to a distinctly sphero-political theory of immunity that is capable of integrating the ontological synergies that exist between human bodies, spaces, and atmospheres. More specifically, the spheropolitics of coronavirus are discussed in relation to the security dispositif of the household and examined through the case of the Czech Republic.
The purpose of this article is to outline some of the key changes andadvancements in social theory and research methodology that weretriggered during the period of scientific self-reflection after the events ofthe so-called Arab Spring. The ongoing turn towards decidedlymicropolitical and anthropological approaches has had a significant impactespecially on macropolitical and universalist disciplines which, much liketheir regional counterparts, were largely caught o! guard by the MiddleEastern developments from the turn of the last decade. These changesrepresent a very welcome corrective detour to the established trajectoriesof scientific development, especially so with regard to the existing andprolonged issues surrounding interdisciplinary research that havehistorically plagued the research in Middle Eastern politics and for whichnew possibilities of resolutions are hereby opened.
The purpose of this article is to outline some of the key changes and advancements in social theory and research methodology that were triggered during the period of scientific self-reflection after the events of the so-called Arab Spring. The ongoing turn towards decidedly micropolitical and anthropological approaches has had a significant impact especially on macropolitical and universalist disciplines which, much like their regional counterparts, were largely caught off guard by the Middle Eastern developments from the turn of the last decade. These changes represent a very welcome corrective detour to the established trajectories of scientific development, especially so with regard to the existing and prolonged issues surrounding interdisciplinary research that have historically plagued the research in Middle Eastern politics and for which new possibilities of resolutions are hereby opened.