Since Foucault introduced the notion of biopolitics, it has been fiercely debated—usually in highly generalized terms—how to interpret and use this concept. This article argues that these discussions need to be situated, as biopolitics have features that do not travel from one site to the next. This becomes apparent if we attend to an aspect of biopolitics that has only received scant attention so far: the knowledge practices required to constitute populations as intelligible objects of government. To illustrate this point, the article focuses on processes of biopolitical bordering: the delineation of the target population that is to be known via statistical practices. Drawing on the example of Estonia I show that methodological decisions involved in this work have important biopolitical implications as they affect the size and composition of the population, thus shaping the design of programmes of government aiming at its regulation.

中文翻译：

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生物政治边界：将人口作为政府的可理解对象

自从福柯提出生物政治学概念以来，就如何解释和使用这一概念进行了激烈的辩论（通常以高度概括的术语）。本文认为，这些讨论必须加以讨论，因为生物政治具有无法从一个地点转移到另一个地点的特征。如果我们关注到目前为止仅鲜为人知的生物政治方面：构成人口作为政府的可理解对象所必需的知识实践，这将变得显而易见。为了说明这一点，本文重点介绍了生物政治边界划分的过程：通过统计实践可以了解目标人群的轮廓。