Making live and letting die: theorizing biopolitics through the Anti-terrorism Act, 2015

Abstract

In this thesis, I theorize the programs of anti-terrorism and securitization deployed through Bill C-51, the Anti-terrorism Act, 2015, as biopolitical techniques of governance that operate through the right to ‘make live’ and ‘let die’. After situating Bill C-51 in relation to historical developments and contemporary trajectories of Canadian anti-terrorism policy and national security programming, I employ critical discourse analysis to examine the policy text of Bill C-51 and the governmental debates surrounding its introduction. I contend that through the mobilization of radical anti-terrorist measures and security mechanisms, Bill C-51 ostensibly functions to reinforce the security and vitality of the Canadian population, while targeting segments of the population designated as threats to national security for governmental discipline, regulation, and elimination. Consequently, I argue that Bill C-51 constitutes a state of exception within which the normative operation of law is suspended, legal protections are withdrawn, and emergency security measures are enforced.