Conclusion

Summary

The Conclusion contextualizes the argument for a posthumanism mode of being argued for in this book in light of the recent COVID-19 pandemic and especially how the framework of biocapital can help us to understand the racialized economic equality upon which Western democracies rely – systemic injustice made all the more visible by the effects of the pandemic. Working through Roberto Esposito’s critique of the concept of personhood as it has unfolded in Western political theory, and how we might think through his notion of immunitary biopolitics in relation to this global situation, as well as drawing on new work on immunity that requires us to reject previous metaphorical figurations of the immune system in military terms of borders and purity, I show how his critique of personhood aligns with the arguments for posthumanist politics made throughout this book. Both share a critique of rights-based frameworks for ethics and suggest the urgent need for new figurations, new ontologies, new ethics. The book concludes by suggesting that “normal” is not a state to which we should desire to return but that instead the failure of existing systems in the face of the pandemic calls for a renewal of our political imagination through posthumanist theory.