In a context marked by the virulent return of patriarchal and white
supremacist attitudes, a new generation of activists, from the Xenofeminists
to Pussy Riot, are continuing the struggle, fighting alongside star feminists
like Emma Watson and Scarlett Johansson: these are very feminist times.
The question of what defines the human, and of what is human about the humanities, have been shaken up by the radical critiques of humanism and the displacement of anthropomorphism that have gained currency in recent years, propelled in part by rapid advances in our knowledge of living systems and of their genetic and algorithmic codes coupled with the global expansion of a knowledge-intensive capitalism. Braidotti takes a closer look at the impact of these developments on three major areas: the constitution of our subjectivity, the general production of knowledge and the practice of the academic humanities
La vita oltre l'individuo, oltre la specie, oltre la morte
220 pages
8 hours of reading
<p>La nostra seconda vita negli universi digitali, il cibo geneticamente modificato, le protesi di nuova generazione, le tecnologie riproduttive sono gli aspetti ormai familiari di una condizione postumana. Tutto ciò ha cancellato le frontiere tra ciò che è umano e ciò che non lo è, mettendo in mostra la base non naturalistica dell’umanità contemporanea. Sul piano della teoria politica e filosofica, urge adeguare le categorie di comprensione delle identità e dei fenomeni sociali a partire da questo salto. Sul piano dell’analisi, dopo aver constatato la fine dell’umanesimo, occorre vedere in questa trasformazione le insidie di una colonizzazione della vita nel suo complesso da parte dei mercati e della logica del profitto. Occorre dunque adeguare la teoria ai cambiamenti in atto, senza rimpianti per un’umanità ormai perduta e cogliendo le opportunità offerte dalle forme di neoumanesimo che scaturiscono dagli studi di genere, postcoloniali e dai movimenti ambientali.</p>
Genetik und künstliche Befruchtung, Robotik, Implantate und Computertechnologie haben nicht nur in der Science-Fiction Cyborgs, Zombies und Klone hervorgebracht. Auch in der Philosophie und in den Humanwissenschaften hat sich seit einigen Jahren eine lebendige Diskussion über die Grenzen und Möglichkeiten des Menschen angesichts moderner Technologien entwickelt. Rosi Braidotti unternimmt eine faszinierende Tour de Force vom Humanismus zum Zeitalter des Posthumanismus, in das technologischer Fortschritt und Kapitalismus uns katapultiert haben: Der humanistische Mensch – männlich, weiß, rational, selbstbewusst, eurozentrisch – ist nicht mehr Maß aller Dinge und hat heute, so Braidotti, einem nomadischen, nicht-individuellen Subjekt Platz gemacht. Vor der Folie postkolonialer und feministischer Theorie legt das Buch die Grundlage für eine neue Theorie dieses posthumanen Subjekts: Nicht mit sich selbst identisch, kollektiv und kosmopolitisch ist es vielfältig mit anderen Subjekten vernetzt – mit Menschen wie mit Tieren und Dingen. So birgt für Braidotti das Ende des Humanismus eine Utopie: Es eröffnet neue soziale Bindungen und Gemeinschaftlichkeit im globalen Maßstab.
The Posthuman offers both an introduction and major contribution to
contemporary debates on the posthuman. Digital 'second life', genetically
modified food, advanced prosthetics, robotics and reproductive technologies
are familiar facets of our globally linked and technologically mediated
societies.
This revised and expanded edition retains all but two of Braidotti's original essays, including her investigations into epistemology's relation to the 'woman question', feminism and biomedical ethics; European feminism; and the possible relations between American feminism and European politics and philosophy. A new piece integrates Deleuze and Guattari's concept of the 'becoming-minoritarian' more deeply into modern democratic thought, and a chapter on methodology explains Braidotti's methods while engaging with her critics.
Major new work in feminist theory, cultural theory and gender studies Author
is well known in the fields of feminism and post-structuralism and for her
work on problems of identity and difference. schovat popis