Article:

Elternzeit und Bio-Politik. Subjektivation, Gender und (Re-)Konstituierung von Öffentlichkeit und Privatheit

The paper addresses the juridical norm of the German Parental Leave legislation as an instrument of bio-politics. Referring to Michel Foucault and Judith Butler, three questions are discussed: (a) which productive power can be identified within Parental Leave in terms of the government of the subject as well as in technologies of the self? Both aspects are intertwined through processes of surveying, (self-) measuring and normalization. These issues are especially discussed regarding the fields of politics, economy and social sciences. (b) How do these technologies of subjectivation affect the constitution of gendered subjects? (c) Which transformation processes (can possibly) emerge with regard to the relation of the private and the public sphere? The discussion of these questions is based on first findings of a research project on “Fathers in Parental Leave”.