Bio-Politics and Calculative Technologies in COVID Governance: Reflections From England

Background Through the extensive use of public media, the government of England was heavily involved in encouraging and instructing people on how to manage their life during COVID-19. This model of health emergency governance replicates the practice of ‘calculative technologies’ and ‘bio-politics’ embedded in population management. Previous research on COVID-19 governance both in the UK and beyond provides varied revelations on broader ‘technologies of government’ and bio-politics by numerous governments. However, rarely have any studies explicitly and distinctively highlighted the unique ‘calculative technologies” mobilised by governments within their bio-politically designed “technologies of government” to compel the populations to manage their lives under their COVID guidance. The paper therefor examines how the UK government deployed “calculative technologies”, as part of its strategies of health governance and governmentality during the first wave of COVID-19 in England.