The slaughterhouse of the world: capitalist voracity and dehumanizing biopolitics in Agustina Bazterrica’s Tender is the Flesh

Abstract

The article analyzes Cadáver exquisito (Tender is the Flesh) by Agustina Bazterrica as a dystopian critique of advanced capitalism, biopolitics, and structural violence. The novel depicts a world where human bodies are commodified, exposing the dehumanizing logic of a system that prioritizes profit over ethics. Through a narrative style marked by transparent language, Bazterrica unveils the dynamics of power, alienation, and symbolic violence that sustain the dystopian order. Drawing on theoretical frameworks by Foucault, Galtung, and Bourdieu, this study examines the interplay between biopolitical control, capitalist voracity, and the failure of individual resistance, offering insights into the ethical dilemmas of contemporary systems of consumption and power.