Risk-Aversion Strategies In The Walking Dead

Source 1 – Lupton, D (1999). Risk and Governmentality in Risk (pp. 85-91). Psychology Press.
Lupton alludes to Foucauldian perspective on how governmentality as an approach to social control involves intervention, regulation and protection to maximize welfare in a neoliberal system. I wish to examine the structure of societies within the zombie narrative by the TV series – The Walking Dead, through the theoretical framework of Foucauldian governmentality as a strategy for risk-aversion (against the zombie threat). This perspective provides insights on explaining certain behaviours of groups of human survivors– social bodies that are fraught with social contracts and expectations ‘imposed’ by an authoritative body. Based on this foundation,

Giroux unpacks key elements of successful neoliberal economies such as the need for distinct roles which necessitates the stratification of society based on capabilities and the extent to which they participate. Similarly, in The Walking dead, the value of characters is dependent on how they contribute to the group’s survival. Hence, The Walking Dead legitimizes the neoliberal styles of governance and the ideal citizen through a system where survivors are stratified based on the aforementioned qualities. Thus, Giroux’s analysis allows me to bridge the gap between Foucauldian framework (on risk and governmentality) and the zombie narrative – possibly explaining why some survivors ostracized in the first

However, my research seeks to define what exactly the human enclave deems as a risky pertaining to external groups, thereby sowing the seeds for conflict and ethical dilemmas in the first place. Hence, my research extends Carroll’s point, where I would focus on the ways external groups are viewed as the ‘Other’ as a result of a rational response. These responses include violent interrogations before the inclusion or even exile of a member. Such ‘reactionary risk responses’, as Carroll posits, necessitates a perpetual state of alertness which prompts precautionary strikes to eliminate potential risks based on suspicion. This theme happens to be central to The Walking Dead’s portrayal of Mankind falling from grace. (147