Kaygi 2 (31):404-430 (
2018)
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Abstract
This study focuses on the ideas of Antonio Negri and Michael Hardt, the most influential thinkers of
recent period, about the concepts of the Empire, Multitude and Biopolitical production. These concepts being at the center of contemporary political discussions problematise the ideaitonal foundations of the
idea of Empire evaluated as a new form of sovereignty, the economic transformation in the contemporary
capitalism and the new form of subjectivity in this age. To Negri and Hardt, Empire is seen as a logic of
network operating at global level and a new logic of sovereignty and governance going beyond the
political boundaries of nation states as form of sovereignty. In this regard, multitude is evaluated as a
collective and joint social subject against the power and command forms of empire. As for biopolitical
production, it is defined as the production of life in which feelings, symbols, communication and
cooperation go beyond the understanding that centers the production of tangible goods within the
capitalist production and work organization. These three concepts draw an important framework in terms
of understanding the economic, political transformation of the contemporary world. In this study, it was
aimed at interpreting the nature of global changes brought forward by the Negri and Hardt thought within
the boundaries of these three concepts.