This article building on Michel Foucault’s concept of “the governance of life” and Hannah Arendt’s thesis of “the right to have rights,” the article demonstrates that the security imperative, intended to protect life, often turns into a mechanism of rightlessness and exclusion. Giorgio Agamben’s analysis of the normalization of the state of exception, Roberto Esposito’s idea of “immunity,” and Byung-Chul Han’s thesis of the “society of transparency” reveal that modern power operates not only through coercion, but also through fear and voluntary self-surveillance. Special attention is given to digital biopolitics, in which data becomes the primary criterion of political inclusion and exclusion.
The Armenian experience (COVID-19 state of emergency, martial law, uncertainties in migration policy, inequality in healthcare) shows that even in small states, security can rapidly transform a tool for restricting freedoms. The article concludes that overcoming the biopolitical paradox requires a new model of security, grounded in mutual recognition, comprehensive participation, and digital ethics.