We are looking to publish Book Reviews (800-1000 words) of very recent books in the areas of: ge... more We are looking to publish Book Reviews (800-1000 words) of very recent books in the areas of: general philosophy of science; philosophy of life sciences; philosophy of physics; sociological approaches to science; feminist approaches to science; science and new materialism; the history of a science; history of medicine; the pluralisation of scientific knowledge; science and pseudoscience; science and technology studies; digital humanities; literature and science; science and art practices; environmental sciences and animal studies.
Considering the controversial assumptions of 'Avatar's narrative, yet the massive box office succ... more Considering the controversial assumptions of 'Avatar's narrative, yet the massive box office success and the widespread fascination with the film's CGI effects, as well as the announced four sequels in the upcoming years, is it worth revisiting the film and with what aim? I wish to suggest yes; the film remains a worthwhile cultural phenomenon to examine for its particular staging of post/modernity that underlies environmentalist politics. In this paper I build further on Bruno Latour's and Tim Morton's readings of Avatar and argue that the film not only unconsciously undermines its ideology through the level of the medium, but also on the level of the narrative itself. Through a close reading of a dialogue from the film I show that, if taken seriously from a postcolonial anthropological perspective, the dialogue signals a decolonization of the hierarchical divide between western sciences and Indigenous knowledges, which the film overall remains unable to articulate.
Recently the concept of animism has been radically rethought at the crossover of postcolonial eth... more Recently the concept of animism has been radically rethought at the crossover of postcolonial ethnography, environmental humanities and science studies. This reconceptualisation aims at decolonising western sciences, destabilising an anthropocentric world picture and articulating an environmental and animal ethics in the current context of human-induced climate change and practices such as factory farming. It decisively abandons the controversial colonial epistemology in which animism was first introduced as a primitive and regressive belief in the supernatural spirits. In this essay I would like to situate this current cross-disciplinary rethinking of animism into a genealogy of historical discourses, following scholarship that has theorised one aspect of Enlightenment secularisation processes as the internalisation of spirits and ghosts from non-human materiality on the outside into the space of the human mind. Building on this approach, I propose that the current, post-Enlightenment, posthumanist, cross-disciplinary rethinking of animism can be said to mark a certain historical reversal: an externalisation of what has been seen as within and of the human mind, which I will in this essay term ‘mindedness’, to the outside non-human materiality (again).
We are looking for contributions on the topics of, but not limited to: Complexity in the life sci... more We are looking for contributions on the topics of, but not limited to: Complexity in the life sciences and systems-level research; Values in science, expertise, and inductive risk; Philosophy and physics of time; Neurophilosophy, mind and brain approaches to the study of consciousness; Feminist approaches to scientific research, new materialism, and biopolitics; Technology and scientific knowledge production; Medical humanities and digital humanities in the context of science studies; Philosophy of video games; Early modern natural philosophy, natural history, medicine & chemistry, early modern empiricism and experimentalism; Science and pseudoscience; Pragmatism, science, and philosophy.
We welcome the submission of both short position pieces (2,000-3,000 words) and full articles (5000-7000 words). Please send your submissions to submissions.pulse@gmail.com Submission Deadline: 1st March 2017.
This paper explores the dystopian imaginaries of the recent popular novel trilogy "The Hunger Gam... more This paper explores the dystopian imaginaries of the recent popular novel trilogy "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins and its film adaptations. Having put the narrative into a genealogy of dystopian fiction concerned with the historical nation-state totalitarianisms, I ask what is specifically contemporary about "The Hunger Games". I explore this by focusing on the functioning of the reality show format in the narrative, which I link to G. Agamben's understanding of the spectacle, as part of his wider biopolitical theories. I apply an Agambenian biopolitical reading to the narrative, seeing it as a production of bare life through the camp of the reality show arena. I suggest that "The Hunger Games" offer a critique of contemporary liberal democracies by calling attention to their production of underclassed and expendable life, and crucially, an eruption of the nation-state right to kill, similarly as in Agamben's theories.
The Life Plus 2 Meters project is devoted to helping people prepare for life in a climate-changed... more The Life Plus 2 Meters project is devoted to helping people prepare for life in a climate-changed world where sea levels have risen by 2 meters, “extreme” weather is routine, and humans must adapt to changes in environmental, social, political and economic conditions. This second book in the series offers 34 visions from 34 whose variety of perspectives should help readers reflect on this complex topic.
We are looking to publish Book Reviews (800-1000 words) of very recent books in the areas of: ge... more We are looking to publish Book Reviews (800-1000 words) of very recent books in the areas of: general philosophy of science; philosophy of life sciences; philosophy of physics; sociological approaches to science; feminist approaches to science; science and new materialism; the history of a science; history of medicine; the pluralisation of scientific knowledge; science and pseudoscience; science and technology studies; digital humanities; literature and science; science and art practices; environmental sciences and animal studies.
Considering the controversial assumptions of 'Avatar's narrative, yet the massive box office succ... more Considering the controversial assumptions of 'Avatar's narrative, yet the massive box office success and the widespread fascination with the film's CGI effects, as well as the announced four sequels in the upcoming years, is it worth revisiting the film and with what aim? I wish to suggest yes; the film remains a worthwhile cultural phenomenon to examine for its particular staging of post/modernity that underlies environmentalist politics. In this paper I build further on Bruno Latour's and Tim Morton's readings of Avatar and argue that the film not only unconsciously undermines its ideology through the level of the medium, but also on the level of the narrative itself. Through a close reading of a dialogue from the film I show that, if taken seriously from a postcolonial anthropological perspective, the dialogue signals a decolonization of the hierarchical divide between western sciences and Indigenous knowledges, which the film overall remains unable to articulate.
Recently the concept of animism has been radically rethought at the crossover of postcolonial eth... more Recently the concept of animism has been radically rethought at the crossover of postcolonial ethnography, environmental humanities and science studies. This reconceptualisation aims at decolonising western sciences, destabilising an anthropocentric world picture and articulating an environmental and animal ethics in the current context of human-induced climate change and practices such as factory farming. It decisively abandons the controversial colonial epistemology in which animism was first introduced as a primitive and regressive belief in the supernatural spirits. In this essay I would like to situate this current cross-disciplinary rethinking of animism into a genealogy of historical discourses, following scholarship that has theorised one aspect of Enlightenment secularisation processes as the internalisation of spirits and ghosts from non-human materiality on the outside into the space of the human mind. Building on this approach, I propose that the current, post-Enlightenment, posthumanist, cross-disciplinary rethinking of animism can be said to mark a certain historical reversal: an externalisation of what has been seen as within and of the human mind, which I will in this essay term ‘mindedness’, to the outside non-human materiality (again).
We are looking for contributions on the topics of, but not limited to: Complexity in the life sci... more We are looking for contributions on the topics of, but not limited to: Complexity in the life sciences and systems-level research; Values in science, expertise, and inductive risk; Philosophy and physics of time; Neurophilosophy, mind and brain approaches to the study of consciousness; Feminist approaches to scientific research, new materialism, and biopolitics; Technology and scientific knowledge production; Medical humanities and digital humanities in the context of science studies; Philosophy of video games; Early modern natural philosophy, natural history, medicine & chemistry, early modern empiricism and experimentalism; Science and pseudoscience; Pragmatism, science, and philosophy.
We welcome the submission of both short position pieces (2,000-3,000 words) and full articles (5000-7000 words). Please send your submissions to submissions.pulse@gmail.com Submission Deadline: 1st March 2017.
This paper explores the dystopian imaginaries of the recent popular novel trilogy "The Hunger Gam... more This paper explores the dystopian imaginaries of the recent popular novel trilogy "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins and its film adaptations. Having put the narrative into a genealogy of dystopian fiction concerned with the historical nation-state totalitarianisms, I ask what is specifically contemporary about "The Hunger Games". I explore this by focusing on the functioning of the reality show format in the narrative, which I link to G. Agamben's understanding of the spectacle, as part of his wider biopolitical theories. I apply an Agambenian biopolitical reading to the narrative, seeing it as a production of bare life through the camp of the reality show arena. I suggest that "The Hunger Games" offer a critique of contemporary liberal democracies by calling attention to their production of underclassed and expendable life, and crucially, an eruption of the nation-state right to kill, similarly as in Agamben's theories.
The Life Plus 2 Meters project is devoted to helping people prepare for life in a climate-changed... more The Life Plus 2 Meters project is devoted to helping people prepare for life in a climate-changed world where sea levels have risen by 2 meters, “extreme” weather is routine, and humans must adapt to changes in environmental, social, political and economic conditions. This second book in the series offers 34 visions from 34 whose variety of perspectives should help readers reflect on this complex topic.
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Book Reviews by Fran Cettl
http://www.bsls.ac.uk/reviews/modern-and-contemporary/john-rieder-science-fiction-and-the-mass-cultural-genre-system
Please send your suggestions for book reviews to pulse.scistudies@gmail.com
Deadline for review submissions: April 1, 2017.
Papers by Fran Cettl
sciences, destabilising an anthropocentric world picture and articulating an environmental and animal ethics in the current context of human-induced climate change and practices such as factory farming. It
decisively abandons the controversial colonial epistemology in which animism was first introduced as a primitive and regressive belief in the supernatural spirits. In this essay I would like to situate this current
cross-disciplinary rethinking of animism into a genealogy of historical discourses, following scholarship that has theorised one aspect of Enlightenment secularisation processes as the internalisation of spirits
and ghosts from non-human materiality on the outside into the space of the human mind. Building on this approach, I propose that the current, post-Enlightenment, posthumanist, cross-disciplinary rethinking of animism can be said to mark a certain historical reversal: an externalisation of what has been seen as within and of the human mind, which I will in this essay term ‘mindedness’, to the outside non-human materiality (again).
We welcome the submission of both short position pieces (2,000-3,000 words) and full articles (5000-7000 words). Please send your submissions to submissions.pulse@gmail.com
Submission Deadline: 1st March 2017.
Books by Fran Cettl
http://www.bsls.ac.uk/reviews/modern-and-contemporary/john-rieder-science-fiction-and-the-mass-cultural-genre-system
Please send your suggestions for book reviews to pulse.scistudies@gmail.com
Deadline for review submissions: April 1, 2017.
sciences, destabilising an anthropocentric world picture and articulating an environmental and animal ethics in the current context of human-induced climate change and practices such as factory farming. It
decisively abandons the controversial colonial epistemology in which animism was first introduced as a primitive and regressive belief in the supernatural spirits. In this essay I would like to situate this current
cross-disciplinary rethinking of animism into a genealogy of historical discourses, following scholarship that has theorised one aspect of Enlightenment secularisation processes as the internalisation of spirits
and ghosts from non-human materiality on the outside into the space of the human mind. Building on this approach, I propose that the current, post-Enlightenment, posthumanist, cross-disciplinary rethinking of animism can be said to mark a certain historical reversal: an externalisation of what has been seen as within and of the human mind, which I will in this essay term ‘mindedness’, to the outside non-human materiality (again).
We welcome the submission of both short position pieces (2,000-3,000 words) and full articles (5000-7000 words). Please send your submissions to submissions.pulse@gmail.com
Submission Deadline: 1st March 2017.