Introduzione o prefazione

- In this article I try to describe Foucault's conception of the medicalization process. After briefly outline the conception of power proposed by Foucault, I show the central role played by the biomedical devices. The main thesis of this interpretation are two. Firstly, I try to point out how medicine and the biological disciplines form a kind of knowledge which is essential to the birth of the modern State. Secondly, I consider how Foucault definition of biopolitics is the result of an overlap between political power and the specific regimes of truth entailed in biomedical sciences.Keywords: Foucault, power, medicalization, biopolitics, state science, police.Parole chiave: Foucault, potere, medicalizzazione, biopolitica, scienza dello stato, polizia.