"I Can't Breathe": Biopower in the Time of COVID-19: An Exploration of How Biopower Manifests in the Dual Pandemics of COVID and Racism.

ANS Adv Nurs Sci

Department of Health and Community Studies, RN-to-BSN Program, Western Washington University, Bellingham (Dr Espina); and College of Nursing, Seattle University, Seattle, Washington (Dr Narruhn).

Published: August 2021

In this article, we apply Agamben's theory of biopower and other related concepts to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. We explore the similarities between the COVID-19 pandemic and the pandemic of racism. Concepts such as bios, zoe, homo sacer, and states of exception can be applied to understand inequities among marginalized communities in the COVID-19 pandemic. We recommend that nurses and health care workers use critical conscientization and structural competency to increase awareness and develop interventions to undo the injustices related to biopower faced by many in the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8323516PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/ANS.0000000000000355DOI Listing

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