# Introduction to Biopower | Why Theory

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[[Why Theory]] episode on [[biopower]] and [[Foucault]].


## Notes

-   [[Biopower]] describes a power and subjugation over _bodies_ by states
-   [[Foucault]] believes that emancipation from power would come from an emphasis on bodies and pleasure
-   For Foucault, society first had to invent the gay person before they could invent the straight person
-   [[Desire]] is what is controlled by power, and this is expressed unconsciously
-   For [[Foucault]], [[power]] ultimately comes from the [[law]]
    -   [[Marx]] and Marxists believe that power has a material basis, that the law is just downstream of something else
-   [[Deleuze]] and [[Foucault]] could be seen as “[[vitalist]]” philosophers