Legopolitics

ABSTRACT: I develop a latent form of Foucauldian analysis called ‘legopolitics.’ Like biopolitics, legopolitics is a novel archaism combining the Greek lego , ‘I say,’ and politeia , ‘civic life.’ It names the study of ‘legopower,’ a form of security power that centers on the circulation of public statements — the ‘idle talk’ of trends, fads, and other viral processes that do not rise to the level of the logos . Where biopolitics is ‘governance of a population through regulation of life,’ legopolitics is ‘governance of a population through regulation of speech.’ After introducing the concept, I discuss its scope, development, and contemporary relevance.