Pandemica Panoptica: Biopolitical Management of Viral Spread in the Age of Covid-19

Int J Semiot Law. 2022;35(3):1081-1117. doi: 10.1007/s11196-021-09821-1. Epub 2021 Feb 4.

Abstract

The current pandemic period has triggered a series of changes in society, at both individual and collective behavioral levels. These changes were perceived as either positive or negative by the impacted bodies, leading to both social change and positive interactions in a tense context. In this paper, the authors will deal with Pandemica Panotpica, subjugation infiltrating all levels of society, and the approach adopted by several countries in trying to find countermeasures to combat the virus' proliferation. Our research scope began at the onset of the pandemic and ended on early January 2021.

Keywords: Bodies; Covid-19; Discipline; Immobility; Mobility; Modern panopticon; Punish; SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.