- In this article, we review the history of medicalization theory and then offer a historicized definition of biomedicalization. We consider the relationships between biomedicalization and other contemporary theorizing, seeking in particular to situate the concept explicitly in relation to recent scholarship on the politics of life itself. We discuss how biomedicalization processes dovetail with such politics of life as they are engaged individually, collectively, and at the level of population, including issues of bioeconomy, biocapital, citizenship and enhancement. We then address and respond to several critiques of biomedicalization theory, that question its newness, omnipresence, and determinism. In conclusion, we discuss the relations among medicalization, biomedicalization and medical sociology and offer directions for future research.Keywords: biomedicalization, medicalization, technoscience, health, politics of life, optimization.Parole chiave: biomedicalizzazione, medicalizzazione, tecnoscienza, salute, politica della vita, ottimizzazione.
The Politics of Life Itself: Biomedicine, Power, and Subjectivity in the Twenty-First Century- by Rose, N.
