Metapsych conversational learning around the titled topic, beginning with sharing a global call for papers!
[8/23, 6:23 AM]
*Theme and Scope:*
The Journal of Posthumanism (Transnational Press) invites submissions for a special issue exploring the intersection of posthumanism and media studies.
Posthumanism fosters a more inclusive and less hierarchical approach to our entanglements with both human and non-human elements.
Posthuman theory, particularly as articulated by N. Katherine Hayles and Rosi Braidotti, has long been influential in media studies. However, it has often been applied without a systematic or thoroughly developed methodology. Ferrando (2020) argues:
“posthuman ethics invites us to follow on three related layers. First of
all, as a post-humanism, it marks a shift: from universalism to perspectivism, from multiculturalism to pluralism and diversity.
As a postanthropocentrism, it induces a change of strategy: from human agency
to agential networks, from technology to eco-technology.
As a postdualism, it requires an evolution of our awareness: from individuality to
relationality, from theory to praxis.”
This Special Issue of the Journal of Posthumanism therefore asks, how does such posthuman perspectivism, pluralism, agentiality, eco-technology, relationality, and praxis, apply to the future and how might we understand the very concept of “future”?
In 2021, Posthumanism in Art and Science: A Reader was published, making the argument that “aesthetic production is a vital part of posthumanist thinking processes, which thereby grow ever more urgently relevant to social and ecological problem-solving.” (Aloi & McHugh, 2021, 2) Recent studies have developed posthuman approaches to rhetorical practice (Boyle, 2018) and explored how we might understand the combination of humans and technical media as synthetic subjects (Wiley & Elam, 2018). Elsewhere, Iliadis (2013) proposed that a shift away from a cybernetic understanding of communication as a process of pre-existing agents that transmit messages to one another could offer the possibility for the development of a new underlying informational ontology for communication and media studies, which would lend itself to new methods. Such ontologies and methods have been explored in relation to media studies through, for example, posthuman approaches to autoethnographies and subjectivities (Wilde, 2020; 2022). Monea and Packer (2016) have proposed a media genealogy approach that extends the type of work being done in media archaeology.
Building on this genealogical approach, Sylvia (2019; 2021) has argued that posthuman ethics, ontology, and epistemology could be adopted in media studies through a more explicit embrace of affirmative approaches such as counter-actualization, modulation, and counter-memory. Elsewhere, exploring the tensions and potential contradictions between the history of cultural studies and posthumanism, Cord (2022) asks, “can or should Cultural Studies and the nonhuman turn really be brought into the contact zone?” There are therefore a variety of possible responses and resonances between posthumanism and media studies.
We propose this special issue as an avenue to explore, extend, and develop a posthuman praxis for media studies. We invite researchers to explore themes related to these posthuman approaches. This might include, but is not limited to:
* Pieces that build on or extend existing theory and methods in posthuman media and/or communication practices.
* The role of AI in shaping posthuman futures and subjectivities.
* Posthuman approaches for the study of games, television, social media, journalism, and rhetoric.
* The exploration of posthuman ethics in media studies.
* Application of posthuman paradigms such as counter-actualization, modulation, and countermemory in media case studies.
* Posthuman conceptualizations of media’s role in processes of subjectivation.
* How media intra-actions emphasise different modes of materialism and materialities.
* Experimental approaches to media studies.
* Post-anthropocentric or non-human media studies.
* Ontologies of posthuman media.
* Posthumanist entanglements of media and culture.
* Onto-epistemological postdualisms that could/should be applied to media studies.
*Guest Editors:*
Dr. J.J. Sylvia IV, Associate Professor of Communications Media, Fitchburg State University
Dr. Poppy Wilde, Senior Lecturer in Media and Communication, Birmingham City University
Please feel free to circulate this call for proposals among your colleagues and networks. If you have any questions about this call or the proposed special issue, please feel welcome to contact us. All inquiries and submissions can be sent to: jsylvia3@fitchburgstate.
*References*
Aloi, G., & McHugh, S. (eds) (2021). Posthumanism in art and science: A reader. Columbia University Press.
Boyle, C. A. (2018). Rhetoric as a posthuman practice. The Ohio State University Press.
Cord, F. (2022). Posthumanist cultural studies: Taking the nonhuman seriously. Open Cultural Studies , 6 (1), 25-37. https://doi.org/10.1515/
Ferrando, F. (2020). Posthuman feminist ethics: Unveiling ontological radical healing. In M. R. Thomsen and Jacob Wamberg The Bloomsbury handbook of posthumanism , (pp. 141-60). Bloomsbury Academic.
Iliadis, A. (2013). Informational ontology: The meaning of Gilbert Simondon’s concept of individuation. Communication + 1, 2 (1). Article 5. https://doi.org/10.7275/
Monea, A., & Packer, J. (2016). Media genealogy and the politics of archaeology. International Journal of Communication, 10 , 3141–59.
Sylvia IV, J.J. (2019). From archaeology to genealogy: Adding processes of subjectivation to artistic intervention. Communication +1, 7(2). Article 3. https://doi.org/10.7275/a3dm-
———. (2021). Posthuman media studies. Journal of Posthumanism, 1 (2), 139-51. https://doi.org/10.33182/jp.
Wilde, P. (2020). I, posthuman: A deliberately provocative title. International Review of Qualitative Research, 13 (3), 365–80. https://doi.org/10.1177/
———. (2022). Storytelling the multiple self: Posthuman autoethnography as critical praxis. In C. Blyth & T. K. Aslanian (Eds.), Children and the power of stories (pp. 1-16). Children: Global Posthumanist Perspectives and Materialist Theories. Springer Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-
Wiley, S B. C., & Elam, J. (2018). Synthetic subjectivation: Technical media and the composition of posthuman subjects.” Subjectivity, 11 (3), 203–27. https://doi.org/10.1057/
Conversational transcripts below pasted from the "Metapsych group" after the call for papers above was shared.
[8/24, 7:15 PM] Metapsychist Number 1 Kims 2015: @~Madeeha Abrar What's this bird?
[8/24, 8:38 PM] +91 7: Parrots,,,π
[8/24, 8:39 PM] Metapsychist Number 1 Kims 2015: Parakeet
[8/24, 8:39 PM] +91 7: Yeah same only
[8/24, 8:39 PM] +91 7: But different species
[8/24, 8:39 PM] +91 7: Budgies
[8/24, 8:39 PM] Metapsychist Number 1 Kims 2015: Yep,budgies,aka Budgerigar
[8/24, 8:40 PM] +91 7: Why are they in cage?
[8/24, 8:42 PM] Metapsychist Number 1 Kims 2015: Let's find out
[8/24, 8:50 PM] Metapsychist Number 1 Kims 2015: They fly away so easily until trained and they cannot survive outside
π₯²
[8/24, 8:50 PM] Metapsychist Number 1 Kims 2015: Let them fly away,,,
[8/24, 8:50 PM] Metapsychist Number 1 Kims 2015: There are ...but the ones bred this way are generally very fragile ....they are always kept inside even in the shop ....so they don't really know how to survive ...they are easy prey for eagles around
[8/24, 8:50 PM] Metapsychist Number 1 Kims 2015: So there are no wild parakeets?
[8/24, 8:52 PM] Metapsychist Number 1 Kims 2015: Why are they being bred in first place?
[8/24, 8:53 PM] +91 8: I had 4 of them ...i tried soo hard to keep them alive .... even when kept in the cage I kept the cage near the window and an eagle tried to kill one of em
[8/24, 8:54 PM] +91 8: Since it got injured ...it died within two days
[8/24, 8:55 PM] +91 8: Also one more budgie just flew away while we opened the cage to change food and water
[8/24, 8:55 PM] Metapsychist Number 1 Kims 2015: Akin to breeding children in coaching institutions and they succb or suicide when put in real life scenarios?π€
[8/24, 8:55 PM] +917 : Flew away safely is good
[8/24, 8:56 PM] +91 5: This was sad,,,!π₯
[8/24, 8:56 PM] +91 : But idts ....if a budgie got hurt like that inside the cage ...I'm sure the other one couldn't have survived either
[8/24, 8:56 PM] Metapsychist Number 1 Kims 2015: Agree
[8/24, 8:57 PM] +91 : Once they start falling Ill for whatever reason ....it's only a matter of 3-4 days
[8/24, 8:58 PM] Metapsychist Number 1 Kims 2015: In an experiment, a scientist placed a number of fleas in a glass jar. They quickly jumped out. He then put the fleas back into the jar and placed a glass lid over the top. The fleas began jumping and hitting the glass lid, falling back down into the jar. After a while, the fleas, conditioned to the presence of the glass lid, began jumping slightly below the glass lid so as not to hit it. The scientist then removed the glass lid as it was no longer needed to keep the fleas in the jar. The fleas have learned to limit themselves from jumping beyond the height of the lid even if the lid was removed as they have been conditioned to the fact that they cannot escape from the jar.
[8/24, 8:58 PM] +91 8: Did y'all see those colourful chickens in local markets ?? It's the same case with them too ...i used to be very excited when I was small but now I realise they treat them soo badly , colour em and sell. The other day a lady was carrying one in a plastic bag, that's just very sad to watch
.
[8/24, 8:59 PM] Metapsychist Number 1 Kims 2015: Yess...
That's rly sad.
They hardly live for 1 to 2 months.
Even few exotic dog breeds are like this..
[8/24, 8:59 PM] +91 8: True
[8/25, 7:24 AM] Avinash Gupta Nepal: Even trained ones will die in concrete jungle..they need natural habitat too.
[8/25, 8:03 AM] Rakesh Biswas: What's their average life span in jungles v captivity? ππ
[8/25, 8:11 AM] Avinash Gupta Nepal: My opinion for animals in captivity is, either provide them good food, security, play (mashlow's pyramid base) or if that anyway difficult then not bring them in captivity.
Raising once In captivity and then sending back to jungle may be worst.
So like raising children is a 20 Years project, raising animals in captivity is also similar untill they live their natural life.
Ps- I like animals, and also eat them in dinner.
[8/25, 8:18 AM] Avinash Gupta Nepal: Raising animals on industrial scale for business (food, captivity) is different.
Common cruelty there is inbreeding and toxifying their liver and kidneys.
[8/25, 8:20 AM] Rakesh Biswas: The BBC post that you shared contradicts your statement here about what I thought was mortality differences between captivity and natural habitat but I now realize you may have wanted to make a different poimt here
[8/25, 8:22 AM] Avinash Gupta Nepal: Yes sir.
My point was, to either let them be in natural habitat or give good accommodation, food and security.
Bad captivity should be prevented like torture, punishment, inbreeding, etc.
[8/25, 8:25 AM] Rakesh Biswas: What about bad parents! I guess the law needs more transparent and accountable parental monitoring systems data to decide who to catch (catch up with @Metapsychist Number 1 Kims 2015)?
[8/25, 8:28 AM] Avinash Gupta Nepal: One of bad practice becomes best practice when we do industrial scale captivity for human food, or pearls, meds etc.
That is toxifying animals including chicken for dinner or horse's for snake antivenom.
It's interesting how bad becomes best when context changes.
[8/25, 8:31 AM] Avinash Gupta Nepal: Here bad with respect to context becomes important then.
In usa throwing out an 18 year old away from home to earn himself can be best practice an in India can be considered worst.
When bad identified, there are choices-
1) educational intervention.
2) corrective/ self-corrective intervention.
[8/25, 8:33 AM] Rakesh Biswas: Bad and best are judgmental labels and as you rightly pointed depend on context
But then what is toxifying animals for dinner! π³π¨
[8/25, 8:35 AM] Avinash Gupta Nepal: Overuse of antibiotics and steroids in poultry and other livestock industries. hormones like in cows.
[8/25, 8:36 AM] Avinash Gupta Nepal: Toxifying to increase efficiency/produce
.
[8/25, 8:37 AM] Avinash Gupta Nepal: With respect to horse's for snake antivenom - it may be a peaceful v/s painful death in neglect.
[8/25, 8:39 AM] Rakesh Biswas: Is that good practice?
[8/25, 8:40 AM] Avinash Gupta Nepal: No sir, best practice is use cautiously.. real implementation of that best practive or gbm is rampant use..
[8/25, 8:40 AM] Rakesh Biswas: Please review the literature on the exact methodology of horse serum extraction for antivenom as there appear to be a few assumptions here
[8/25, 8:41 AM] Avinash Gupta Nepal: Sure sir
[8/25, 8:42 AM] Rakesh Biswas: So the chicken example is Bad rampant use while the horse antivenom example is best use (pending detailed review)?
[8/25, 8:43 AM] Avinash Gupta Nepal: Making antivenom - good.
_Neglecting_ horse's in captivity - sick, suffering, dying early. Is bad.
[8/25, 8:45 AM] Rakesh Biswas: So all practices in an aggregate in your examples contain good bad and ugly?
[8/25, 8:45 AM] Avinash Gupta Nepal: Yes sir
[8/25, 8:47 AM] Avinash Gupta Nepal: Making antivenom - good. Retire after 50 years age - good. Cared well - good
[8/25, 8:48 AM] Avinash Gupta Nepal: Sick and cared - good. Sick and neglected - bad. Sick and die became of neglect - ugly
[8/25, 8:49 AM] Avinash Gupta Nepal: Above statements in context of industrial scale production.
Above 2 images from here (Not important to check this article) https://www.indiatoday.in/
[8/25, 9:25 AM] Rakesh Biswas: Just metapsyasKing as a horse :
How's it good for me to lose my freedom to some monkeys with AI (the overall bigger asynchronous intelligence of which the current populist AI is just a small subset) and get pricked with a needle first to get injected with snake venom and then to collect my antibodies to benefit the monkeys?!π
[8/25, 9:27 AM] Avinash Gupta Nepal: That's also valid point sir, just context is changed from human wanting industry to horse wanting to be horse. Same as individual wants to be individual but public health wants them to be 1 in large number.
[8/25, 9:28 AM] Rakesh Biswas: Yes task shifting from Anthrocentric humanism to post humanism will take time!
Licenced from : Wikimedia commons
