Biopolitics: Regulating Human Bodies and Controlling Lives in Neal Shusterman’s Unwind

Abstract

Neal Shusterman’s dystopian novelUnwind depicts a society where human life is compromised by a legal and medical system that permits organ harvesting from adolescents.Set in a future where unwanted teenagers are unwound and their body parts distributed to those in need. This policy reflects the extreme consequences of biopolitical governance, where human bodies are treated as state-controlled resources. By employing Michel Foucault’s theory of biopolitics, this study examines how Unwind critiques the systemic regulation of life and death through organ harvesting.It aims to analyse the ways in which political and medical governance justify the exploitation of human bodies under the guise of societal welfare.This study explores how biopolitical mechanisms in the novel enforce organ harvesting and reshape societal norms and normalise the treatment of individuals as biological commodities.This research also highlights the ethical risks of biopolitical control over human bodies, emphasizing how Unwind serves as a cautionary tale against a future where organ harvesting maybecomean accepted social practice. Through this analysis, the paper underscores the broader implications of biopolitical power in shaping human existence and medical ethics.