The birth of mindpolitics: Understanding nudging in public health policy

Rik Peeters*, Marc Schuilenburg

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalReview articleAcademicpeer-review

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Abstract

This article addresses the question: 'In what ways have nudging and other behavioural techniques entered the realm of policymaking for public health and what does that mean for the way contemporary society is governed?' In our genealogy of Dutch public health policy, we have identified four periods: 'rational persuasion/individual responsibility' ('70s), 'welfarist emancipation' ('80s), 'neo-liberal regulation' ('90s), and 'management of choice' (now). We show how a different type of technique, which we call 'mindpolitics', has slowly complemented the biopolitics of public hygiene and health care. We argue that to think in terms of biopolitics today means to think of its relation to a world in which public health is managed through architecture of choice and the way individuals are nudged into making better decisions.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)138-159
Number of pages22
JournalSocial Theory & Health
Volume15
Issue number2
Early online date9 Nov 2016
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2017

Keywords

  • biopolitics
  • choice architecture
  • Foucault
  • nudging
  • public health

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