Biyotıp ve Yaşlılığın Toplumsallığı Arasında Sıkışan Yaşlanan Beden: Foucault ve Bourdieu Perspektifinden Bir Değerlendirme

Abstract

Yaşlanma biyolojik olduğu kadar toplumsal bir süreçtir. Yaşlanan bedende meydana gelen fiziksel ve fizyolojik değişimleri, bireyin toplumsal konumlanışımdaki değişimler izler. Yaşlanan beden faildir, biriciktir ve kimliklidir. Ancak Batı tıbbına yön veren biyotıp, yaşlanan bedenin bu özelliklerini geri plana atarak yaşlanan bedeni sağlıklı ya da hasta olmak üzere iki durumda inceler. Tıp uzmanları yaşlı bedenin muayenesinde ve tedavisinde bir tıbbi bakış benimserler. Bu tıbbi bakışla tıp uzmanı, yaşlanan bedenin toplumsal, kültürel ve ekonomik yanını ön plana almayarak ve sadece hastalığa odaklanarak yaşlanan bedeni muayene eder. Bu durum aynı zamanda yaşlanan bedenin toplumsallığını da göz ardı etmek anlamına gelir. Öte yandan tıbbi bakış, tıp uzmanı ve yaşlanan beden arasında bir mesafe oluşmasına ve tıp uzmanının yaşlanan beden üzerinde tahakküm kurmasına neden olur. Bu çalışma biyotıp ve bedenin toplumsallığı arasında sıkışan yaşlanan bedeni Foucault’nun ve Bourdieu’nün kuramı ışığında incelemektedir. Yaşlanan beden aynı zamanda iktidarın bir ürünü ve bir iktidar alanıdır. Fiziksel olarak değişen beden aynı zamanda sosyal ve kültürel anlamda da dönüşmektedir. Dolayısıyla yaşlanan beden toplumsal bir varlık olarak incelenmelidir. Çünkü yaşlılık sürecinde beden dönüştükçe ve habitus ve sermaye türleri değiştikçe bireyin failliği ve kimliği de dönüşür.

Keywords

• Yaşlanan beden
• Biyotıp
• Tıbbi bakış
• Foucault
• Bourdieu

The Aging Body Trapped Between Biomedicine and Sociality of Aging: An Evaluation from the Perspectives of Foucault and Bourdieu

Abstract

Aging is a social as well as biological process. The physical and physiological changes that occur in the aging body are followed by changes in the individual’s social position. The aging body is an agent, is unique, and has identity. However, biomedicine as the director of Western medicine puts these features of the aging body into the background and examines the aging body in two states: healthy or ill. Experts adopt a medical view when examining and treating the aging body. With this medical view, a specialist then examines the aging body by focusing only on the disease without considering the social, cultural, or economic aspects of the aging body. This also means ignoring the sociality of the aging body. Meanwhile, the medical view also creates a distance between the medical professional and the aging body that leads to the medical professional’s dominance over the aging body. This study examines the aging body as trapped between biomedicine and sociality in light of Foucault’s and Bourdieu’s theories. The aging body is also a product and field of power, where the physically changing body additionally transforms both socially and culturally. Therefore, the aging body should be studied as a social entity, because as the body transforms while aging, so do changes occur regarding habitus and capital types, as well as transformations in the individual’s agency and identity.

Keywords

• Aging body
• Biomedicine
• Medical gaze
• Foucault
• Bourdieu

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