THE MEDICALIZATION OF LIFE: FROM MICHEL FOUCAULT TO GLOBAL HEALTH GOVERNANCE

Abstract

The article examines the historical and philosophical transformation of the concept of health through the prism of medicalization, tracing its evolution from the critical analytics of power developed by Michel Foucault to contemporary models of global health governance. The study analyzes how medicine has expanded beyond the clinical sphere to become a central mechanism for regulating social behavior, constructing norms, and shaping subjectivity in modern societies. Drawing upon Foucault’s concepts of biopower, discipline, and governmentality, the paper argues that medical discourse functions not only as a therapeutic practice but also as a technology of power that organizes bodies, populations, and risk management strategies. The transition from sovereign power to biopolitical regulation is examined as a key turning point in the formation of modern public health systems.The article further explores the institutionalization of global health governance in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, focusing on the role of transnational organizations such as the World Health Organization and their normative frameworks. Particular attention is paid to the expansion of preventive paradigms, epidemiological surveillance, and the digitalization of health monitoring as instruments of global coordination and control.