Introduction: Law, Body, and Health in a Post-Pandemic World

This opening chapter outline the central topics of the volume focusing especially on health law, state of exception, and the legal anatomy of the body. It first highlights the ambivalent relationship between the right to health and the state of emergency, showing how health law increasingly operates at the threshold between ordinary governance and exceptional measures. It then turns to the global dimension, emphasizing the extent to which the normalization of health emergencies has become a contingent feature of the new world order. A particular focus is placed on the evolving nexus between the body, health, and universal health care, tracing how the legal frameworks surrounding public health have undergone profound economic transformations in recent decades. The chapter concludes by reflecting on future prospects, asking what new forms of governance, rights, and vulnerabilities may emerge in the coming years, as they appear increasingly marked by the rise of medicalisation, healthism, and digital surveillance.