The Medarchy: Medical Discipline and the Panopticon in Caduceus Wild
This article explores the paradoxical nature of biopower when social, political and economic interests clash with individuality and autonomy. Special emphasis is placed on the Foucauldian concept of the panopticon to examine the mechanisms of (self-) surveillance as the most effective instruments o...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Universidad de Zaragoza
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Miscelánea: A Journal of English and American Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://papiro.unizar.es/ojs/index.php/misc/article/view/10413 |
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| author | Shadia Abdel-Rahman Téllez |
| author_facet | Shadia Abdel-Rahman Téllez |
| author_sort | Shadia Abdel-Rahman Téllez |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
This article explores the paradoxical nature of biopower when social, political and economic interests clash with individuality and autonomy. Special emphasis is placed on the Foucauldian concept of the panopticon to examine the mechanisms of (self-) surveillance as the most effective instruments of social control. Taking the recent pandemic as the starting point for critical reflection, this article raises questions about the purview of biopower through the analysis of the speculative novel Caduceus Wild, published in 1959 by Ward Moore with Robert Bradford. This analysis first focuses on the panopticon as the main instrument of discipline to contain the global health crisis provoked by the coronavirus. Secondly, it examines the particularities of
healthcare dystopias. Finally, it explores the potential of the discourses of biopower to transform the institutional authority of medicine acting in the name of public health
into an oppressive system of social control by adopting the form of a totalitarian medical regime, as described in the fictional world imagined by Moore and Bradford.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-cf2d5ca6419e41e6beaf1ba6aa0d3774 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1137-6368 2386-4834 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Universidad de Zaragoza |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Miscelánea: A Journal of English and American Studies |
| spelling | doaj-art-cf2d5ca6419e41e6beaf1ba6aa0d37742025-08-20T02:35:57ZengUniversidad de ZaragozaMiscelánea: A Journal of English and American Studies1137-63682386-48342025-06-017110.26754/ojs_misc/mj.202510413The Medarchy: Medical Discipline and the Panopticon in Caduceus WildShadia Abdel-Rahman Téllez0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9546-9965Universidad de Oviedo This article explores the paradoxical nature of biopower when social, political and economic interests clash with individuality and autonomy. Special emphasis is placed on the Foucauldian concept of the panopticon to examine the mechanisms of (self-) surveillance as the most effective instruments of social control. Taking the recent pandemic as the starting point for critical reflection, this article raises questions about the purview of biopower through the analysis of the speculative novel Caduceus Wild, published in 1959 by Ward Moore with Robert Bradford. This analysis first focuses on the panopticon as the main instrument of discipline to contain the global health crisis provoked by the coronavirus. Secondly, it examines the particularities of healthcare dystopias. Finally, it explores the potential of the discourses of biopower to transform the institutional authority of medicine acting in the name of public health into an oppressive system of social control by adopting the form of a totalitarian medical regime, as described in the fictional world imagined by Moore and Bradford. https://papiro.unizar.es/ojs/index.php/misc/article/view/10413medicinepanopticonpowerspeculative fictiondiscipline |
| spellingShingle | Shadia Abdel-Rahman Téllez The Medarchy: Medical Discipline and the Panopticon in Caduceus Wild Miscelánea: A Journal of English and American Studies medicine panopticon power speculative fiction discipline |
| title | The Medarchy: Medical Discipline and the Panopticon in Caduceus Wild |
| title_full | The Medarchy: Medical Discipline and the Panopticon in Caduceus Wild |
| title_fullStr | The Medarchy: Medical Discipline and the Panopticon in Caduceus Wild |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Medarchy: Medical Discipline and the Panopticon in Caduceus Wild |
| title_short | The Medarchy: Medical Discipline and the Panopticon in Caduceus Wild |
| title_sort | medarchy medical discipline and the panopticon in caduceus wild |
| topic | medicine panopticon power speculative fiction discipline |
| url | https://papiro.unizar.es/ojs/index.php/misc/article/view/10413 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT shadiaabdelrahmantellez themedarchymedicaldisciplineandthepanopticonincaduceuswild AT shadiaabdelrahmantellez medarchymedicaldisciplineandthepanopticonincaduceuswild |