Ethics, Health Data, and Bio-Citizenship: From the Politics of Body to the Politics of Knowledge

In introducing the present volume, we want to start by clearing the field of doubts that could create precipitous expectations or false impressions. This monographic issue was not conceived as a direct response to the challenges to citizenship launched by the current pandemic situation that the world population is experiencing following the contagious spread of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We do not want to assume the condition of limitation of freedom in which many of us find as an effective representation of bio-citizenship. It would be too easy and hasty an inference mechanism. Certainly, the human condition that we are going to experience can be politically characterized as a “medical citizenship”, but we believe that this is due to the essential feature of an emergency dictated by health reasons. What we are experiencing – this is our opinion – is a historical moment that is still too recent to be defined according to some pre-set denotation. We certainly have empirical evidence of the negative consequences that universally affect the political freedoms of citizens across the world. However, this is not enough to positively define the pandemic in terms of global medical citizenship. We hope and think that such a condition is temporary and transitory, therefore destined to diminish as soon as the vaccine is made accessible to all.