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78156-01 - Seminar: Life in the Time of [Bio-]Capitalism (3 CP)
| Semester | spring semester 2026 |
| Course frequency | Irregular |
| Lecturers | Sahana Srinivasan (sahana.srinivasan@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | This course broadly explores how innovations in biomedicine and healthcare are framed by capitalist imperatives. We begin by defining our contemporary political, economic an humanitarian contexts, with an introduction to capital and commodification (Marx), biopolitics (Foucault) and necropolitics (Mbembe). These foundational principles are then used to interrogate innovations in biomedicine – Can the commodification of biology, i.e., biocapital, improve healthcare? Can market-driven and profit-oriented healthcare ever adequately address global health inequities? Can philanthrocapitalism restore planetary health? |
| Learning objectives | Students will first engage with the foundational theoretical principles of capital, commodification (Marx), forms of capital (Bourdieu), biopolitics (Foucault) and necropolitics (Mbembe). These ideas will then be used to understand the co-production of economic regime and biomedicine (Sunder Rajan, Rose, Dumit). Finally, we will examine the contributions of philanthrocapitalism towards global and planetary health outcomes (Butler). Taken together, students will be able to contextualise and critique biomedicine, evaluate its promises and pitfalls, and speculate on if another future is possible. |
| Bibliography | Learning material for this course may include: Selected video(s) from „Reading Marx’s Capital Volume 1 with David Harvey“ (Recorded at The People’s Forum NYC, 2019) „Forms of Capital“ (Bourdieu, 1983) „Biopolitics“ (from The Cambridge Foucault Lexicon, 2014) „Necropolitics“ (Mbembe, 2019) „The Politics of Life Itself“ (Rose, 2001) „Promise and Fetish :Genomic Facts and Personalised Medicine, or Life is a Business Plan“ from „Biocapital: The Constitution of Post-Genomic Life“ (Sunder Rajan, 2006) „Moving the Lines, Deciding Thresholds“ from „Drugs for Life“ (Dumit, 2014) „Making valuable health: pharmaceutical, global capital, and alternative political economies“ (Gaudilliere and Sunder Rajan, 2021) „Philanthrocapitalism: Promoting Global Health but Failing Planetary Health“ (Butler, 2019) |
| Comments | No prior knowledge of biology/medicine/psychology is needed. |
| Admission requirements | The number of participants is limited to 25 people. The places are assigned according to date of enrollment and subject of study. Priority will be given to the subjects listed under "modules". The seminar is only open to MA students and advanced BA students (from the 4th semester onwards). |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Wednesday | 10.15-12.00 | Ethnologie, grosser Seminarraum |
Dates
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday 04.03.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Ethnologie, grosser Seminarraum |
| Wednesday 11.03.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Ethnologie, grosser Seminarraum |
| Wednesday 18.03.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Ethnologie, grosser Seminarraum |
| Wednesday 25.03.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Ethnologie, grosser Seminarraum |
| Wednesday 01.04.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Ethnologie, grosser Seminarraum |
| Wednesday 08.04.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Ethnologie, grosser Seminarraum |
| Wednesday 15.04.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Ethnologie, grosser Seminarraum |
| Wednesday 22.04.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Ethnologie, grosser Seminarraum |
| Wednesday 29.04.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Ethnologie, grosser Seminarraum |
| Wednesday 06.05.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Ethnologie, grosser Seminarraum |
| Wednesday 13.05.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Ethnologie, grosser Seminarraum |
| Wednesday 20.05.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Ethnologie, grosser Seminarraum |
| Wednesday 27.05.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Ethnologie, grosser Seminarraum |
| Modules |
Modul: Kulturtechnische Dimensionen (Master's degree program: Cultural Techniques) Modul: Methoden und Felder der Kulturanthropologie (Bachelor's degree subject: Cultural Anthropology) Modul: Research Lab Kulturanthropologie (Master's degree subject: Cultural Anthropology) Modul: Sachthemen der Ethnologie (Bachelor's degree subject: Anthropology) Modul: Theory and General Anthropology (Master's degree subject: Anthropology) Modul: Vertiefung Themenfelder der Geschlechterforschung (Master's degree subject: Gender Studies) Modul: Wissenschaftliche Vertiefung in der Ethnologie: Sachthemen (Bachelor's degree subject: Anthropology) Module: Advances in Epidemiology, Statistics and Global & Public Health (Master's Studies: Epidemiology) Module: Fields: Environment and Development (Master's degree program: African Studies) Module: Fields: Public Health and Social Life (Master's degree program: African Studies) Module: Migration, Mobility and Transnationalism (Master's degree program: Changing Societies: Migration – Conflicts – Resources) Specialization Module Global Europe: Global Ageing and Health (Master's Studies: European Global Studies) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | as often as necessary |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Fachbereich Ethnologie |