Necropolitics

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The relationship between sovereignty and power over life and death. uncountable

    "The idea of a supreme power which monopolizes legitimate violence is as much about limiting and restraining ‘necropolitics’ as it is about engaging in it."

Example

More examples

"The idea of a supreme power which monopolizes legitimate violence is as much about limiting and restraining ‘necropolitics’ as it is about engaging in it."

Etymology

From necro- + politics, coined by Cameroonian philosopher and political scientist Achille Mbembe.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.