Abstract

SUMMARY One of the main features of the contemporary forms of exercising power has made itself particularly obvious through the implementation of systems where individuals are put in the position of active subjects/agents of their actions, thereby encouraging them to assume a growing number of responsibilities, which can be described as the logical and necessary consequences of their actions. The field of modern biopolitics has yielded numerous examples of the implementation of such systems, in stark contrast with the more visible and coercive forms of exercising constraint that were the norm in the past. Would it be reasonable to infer that individual agents are incapable of approaching these post-coercive configurations of power from a critical perspective? We will show on the basis of an empirical survey, both qualitative and quantitative, of DNA « donors » for medical research - that the frames of perception and interpretation of individuals as well as their resistance strategies tend to reach a raised level of awareness when confronted with potential power imbalances that could arise from an ethical and juridical procedure known as informed consent – a procedure a priori designed to serve their autonomy and freedom of choice.