How is the response to the zika virus an example of “biopolitics”?

Answer the following questions with materials provided:

1) Provide an example of something we see in the built environment that is part of a “biopolitical landscape.” What makes it “biopolitical”? (1 point for example; 2 points for explanation)

2) Provide an example of a movie, book, news piece, or other popular culture item that illustrates the “panopticon.” Why is it an example of the “panopticon”? (1 point for example; 2 points for explanation)

3) Choose one of the three prompts: (3 points)

a) Compare the efforts to control the plague in Foucault’s “Panopticism” and Taylor’s “The Bubonic Plague.” Specifically, who had authority to conduct surveillance? How did they conduct surveillance? How did they maintain quarantines? Who was the target of their surveillance and quarantine activities?

b ) How is the response to the zika virus an example of “biopolitics”? Who all comprises “the government”? Who is targeted to alter their behavior? What is the justification for intervening in the health choices of those targeted?

c) Do government methods of disciplines affect all people equally? Using examples from the readings, lectures, and/or your own research, describe who is disportionately impacted by biopolitical and surveillance efforts and how.