The relationship between medicine and politics, economy and culture

In the mid-1970s, the famous French scholar Foucault turned his research to the investigation of "politics of life". "Vital politics" refers to "the behavior that began in the 18th century, which attempted to rationalize issues such as health, birth rate, hygiene, life expectancy, race, and so on", and attempted to rationally manage and coordinate the vital signs of the "population". It seeks to rationally manage and harmonize the vital signs of the "population". From the 18th century, the modern medical system began to take shape. In Foucault's eyes, modern medicine has always been entangled with politics, from the 18th century to the 19th century, there are three different medical systems, but each of them is supported by political power ...... national medicine In the 18th century, a modern "population" concept appeared in the literature of national governance. Into the 18th century, a modern concept of "population" appeared in the literature of state governance. The relationship between population and the state was no longer understood only in quantitative terms, but in "qualitative" terms. The health of the population is closely related to the power of the state, and the "diseases" that threaten health are no longer just an individual problem, but a threat at the political level. At this time, the state power needed to use another power to govern the population, in this context, medicine as a means of "treatment", the science of "health", naturally began to be intertwined with the state power.　　　This combination took place in Prussia at the beginning of the 18th century, which Foucault called "state medicine". Firstly, there was a comprehensive disease surveillance system, with numerous observation points throughout the country to collect statistics on various diseases; secondly, a standardized system of medical knowledge and standards of qualification for medical practitioners was established; and finally, some related government departments were set up. As a result, a hierarchical system of health supervision was formed in Prussia, and from this time on, medicine actually entered the political system as a kind of "health manager". In this form, the individual's health was no longer merely a private matter; it was displayed, investigated, studied, and closely surrounded by a state apparatus. In this sense, medicine became a more politicized event, providing the necessary scientific knowledge and effective means of intervention for national governance. Thus, medicine became a political mechanism that could contribute to the growth of state power. For the individual, his or her own health is not just a private sphere, but a political zone that is closely related to the nation as a whole. Medical intervention is not an invitation to the individual, but a political act in the name of the state, an intervention for the sake of national health and national power. "State medicine" opened an era, since then, medicine has become a key link in the organizational structure of the state, is the operation of the state mechanism must turn to the power of science. Urban medicine Foucault called the second form of modern social medicine development "urban medicine" (urban medicine). "Urban medicine" is not a form of medicine directed to national health, it is more embodied in the planning and construction of the city, its main concern is the city's "environment", that is, related to the national health of the urban space factors.　　　This form of medicine emerged with the urbanization process in France in the 18th century. At that time, the main threat to the city did not come from the outside, but from within the city, from the fear of being squeezed out of the urban space. It was against this background that a mechanism of "segregation" of urban space emerged. First, spaces that are harmful to health are moved to the periphery of the city, such as cemeteries and slaughterhouses. These zones are seen as the birthplace of disease and a terrible threat to urban life. Secondly, the control of "circulation" - the flow of air and water in the city. Streets were widened, rivers were improved, and buildings that blocked the flow of air in the city were demolished. Finally, there is the categorization and ordering of space. The location of clean water and sewage in the city must be clearly delineated, and drinking water must be separated from sewage pipes. In fact, urban medicine is the redistribution of urban public **** space, the reintegration of public power in urban space ...... Although national medicine and urban medicine are very different, they are the product of the combination of political needs and medicine. It is undeniable that political power relies on medicine to manage and intervene in the state and the city. Under a kind of "health" demand, modern medicine has penetrated into the field of political power. Labor medicine The rise of medicine in the 18th century was also associated with a new economy of salvage. In the 18th century, a new type of social categorization of the population emerged. The broad "poor" disappeared and were divided into categories: "the good poor and the bad poor, the hardened idlers and the involuntarily unemployed, those who could do some work and those who could not." In this division, "labor" became an important criterion.　　As a result, extensive relief work disappeared. The "poor" were differentiated according to whether they worked or not, whether they could create value or not, and it was the sick poor that medical work was aimed at, to transform them through treatment into people who were capable of labor and willing to work. A new form of medicine has emerged: it is not only responsible for treating, but also for transforming the sick poor into people who can work and are economically useful. This was the prototype of modern medical insurance or medical welfare, and 19th century England was the first country to develop this form of medicine, which Foucault called "labor force medicine" (labor force medicine).　　　The urban poor in the 19th century were not only a political destabilizing factor, but also a hidden medical problem (infectious disease). The solution to this problem, then, could not be found in political means alone, but rather in the practice of medicine as a means of eliminating their threat. In fact, in Foucault's eyes, the rise of modern medicine has never been a kind of reform and development within the medical field, it has always been entangled with a kind of political power, starting from the state medicine, to the urban medicine, labor medicine, although its starting point, the role of the point as well as the manifestation of the form of the different, but ultimately have been supported by the political power. The introduction of the new Poor Law, whose main function is to strengthen medical control over the poor in the form of welfare, is also a case in point. This kind of medical help for the poor is fundamentally aimed at ensuring the safety of the privileged in the cities, eliminating the risk of infectious diseases, and in particular, the policy of separating the rich neighborhoods from the slums is largely aimed at minimizing the threat that the poor pose to the lives of the rich, rather than being a form of mere medical assistance. ......