Technologies of the New Real: Viral Contagion and Death of the Social PDF
Preview Technologies of the New Real: Viral Contagion and Death of the Social
TECHNOLOGIES OF THE NEW REAL Viral Contagion and Death of the Social With astonishing speed, we have been projected into a new reality where interactions with drones, robotic bodies, and high-level surveillance are increasingly mainstream. In this age of groundbreaking developments in robotic technologies, synthetic biology is merging with artificial intel- ligence, forming a newly blended reality of machines, bodies, and affect. Technologies of the New Real draws from critical intersections of technol- ogy and society – including drones, surveillance, DIY bodies, and innova- tions in robotic technology – to explore what these advances can tell us about our present reality, or what authors Arthur and Marilouise Kroker deem the “new real” of digital culture in the twenty-first century. Technologies of the New Real explores the many technologies of our pres- ent reality as they infiltrate the social, political, and economic static of our everyday lives, seemingly eroding traditionally conceived boundaries between humans and machines, and rendering fully ambivalent borders between the human mind and simulated data. arthur kroker is an emeritus professor and adjunct professor of polit- ical science at the University of Victoria. He is the director of the Pacific Centre for Technology and Culture (PACTAC). marilouise kroker was a feminist scholar, publisher, editor, writer, the- orist, and performance artist. DIGITAL FUTURES Series Editor: ARTHUR KROKER, University of Victoria Digital Futures is a series of critical examinations of technological devel- opment and the transformation of contemporary society by technol- ogy. The concerns of the series are framed by the broader traditions of literature, humanities, politics, and the arts. Focusing on the ethical, political, and cultural implications of emergent technologies, the series looks at the future of technology through the “digital eye” of the writer, new media artist, political theorist, social thinker, cultural historian, and humanities scholar. The series invites contributions to understand- ing the political and cultural context of contemporary technology and encourages ongoing creative conversations on the destiny of the wired world in all of its utopian promise and real perils. Editorial Advisory Board David Cook, University of Toronto Ronald Deibert, University of Toronto Christopher Dewdney, York University Sara Diamond, Ontario College of Art & Design University Ricardo Dominguez, University of California, San Diego Nichola Feldman-Kiss, Toronto Renate Ferro, Cornell University Anita Girvan, Athabasca University Johnny Golding, Royal College of Art, London Ted Hiebert, University of Washington, Bothell Jessica Kolopenuk, University of Alberta Pierre Lévy, University of Ottawa Jackson Leween, 2bears, University of Lethbridge Lev Manovich, Graduate Center, CUNY Liam Mitchell, Trent University Timothy Murray, Cornell University Marcos Novak, University of California, Santa Barbara Stephen Pfohl, Boston College Avital Ronell, New York University Jentery Sayers, University of Victoria Allucquére Rosanne (Sandy) Stone, University of Texas, Austin For a list of books published in this series, see page 190. Technologies of the New Real Viral Contagion and Death of the Social ARTHUR KROKER AND MARILOUISE KROKER UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS Toronto Buffalo London © University of Toronto Press 2022 Toronto Buffalo London utorontopress.com Printed in the U.S.A. ISBN 978-1-4875-4021-0 (cloth) ISBN 978-1-4875-4024-1 (EPUB) ISBN 978-1-4875-4022-7 (paper) ISBN 978-1-4875-4023-4 (PDF) Digital Futures Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Title: Technologies of the new real : viral contagion and death of the social / Arthur Kroker and Marilouise Kroker. Names: Kroker, Arthur, 1945–, author. | Kroker, Marilouise, author. Series: Digital futures. Description: Series statement: Digital futures | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20210278757 | Canadiana (ebook) 2021027879X | ISBN 9781487540210 (cloth) | ISBN 9781487540227 (paper) | ISBN 9781487540241 (EPUB) | ISBN 9781487540234 (PDF) Subjects: LCSH: Technology – Social aspects. | LCSH: Technology – Political aspects. | LCSH: Technology – Economic aspects. Classification: LCC T14.5 .K76 2022 | DDC 303.48/3 – dc23 This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, through the Awards to Scholarly Publications Program, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial assistance to its publishing program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario. Dedicated to the memory of Marilouise Kroker, 1943–2018, writer, editor, poet of the spoken word, artist of the unspoken image, feminist theorist of bodies disavowed, prohibited, excluded, intellectual visionary of the digital future with its codes of domination and uncoded territories of resistance, imagination, and solidarity; and to our granddaughters, Claire and Lilith, who represent so well the brilliant promise of the rising generation of the young This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction: Viral Contagion and Death of the Social 3 1 DIY Bodies 27 2 Power under Surveillance, Capitalism under Suspicion 53 3 Dreaming with Drones 98 4 Robots Trekking across the Uncanny Valley 123 Epilogue: From the Insurgence of the Blended Mind to Gen Z 149 Notes 173 Index 185 This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments Technologies of the New Real was begun in creative collaboration with Marilouise Kroker, who not only had superb insights concerning the fatal trajectory traced by contemporary technological innovations, in- cluding DIY bodies, surveillance practice, drones hunting humans, and robots in the age of artificial intelligence but also expressed her insights in both the writing of the different chapters as well as by brilliant poetry, including “Lip-Synching the Future,” “Terror from Above,” and “Night Sky Epilogue.” While Marilouise did not live to experience the contem- porary pandemic fever that is viral contagion and the death of the social, the power of her critical intellectuality touches every page of this book. It turns out that the intense collaboration that we shared over almost five decades, in writing, editing, performance, and publishing, definitely did not end with death, but very much continues with a form of writing that remains true to a deeply shared intellectual sensibility. Life may find its limits in the finitude of the body, but consciousness has a way of begin- ning anew in the limitlessness of the collaborative imagination, just that point where love, care for the other, and critical engagement with the world always finds ways of expressing itself. I am grateful to the following people who have given me permission to use their material in the writing of this book: Dr. Deena Weinstein for permission to publish lyrics to “God Won’t Bless America” and other quotes from Michael A. Weinstein’s contributions to the music and manifesto of Vortis, a Chicago punk rock band of which he was both lead singer and theorist of the Vorticist imaginary; Craig Fahner for permission to publish excerpts from his insightful contribution to the online discussion of dystopia in the superb listserv, -empyre- soft-skinned space (https://empyre.library.cornell.edu/); Robyn Smith, editor, The Tyee (thetyee.ca) and Mitchel Anderson, author, “Humans Need a Prime Directive, Fast,” thetyee.ca, 7 December 2008.
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