Feminist Posthumanist Theory

Feminist theorists have long been concerned with, in Peta Hinton and Pat Treusch’s (2015) words, “revealing and negotiating inequalities conceived along the break-line of a binary logic that has characterized and sedimented Western traditions of thought” (p. 1). Feminist posthuman thinkers continue this work exploring how historical exceptionalism given to human “man” has helped foster vastly unequal hierarchies and social stratifications that privilege some human and nonhuman bodies, knowledges, and modes of being over others. As Jasmine Ulmer (2017) writes, posthumanism has urged “renewed attention to materiality, vitalism, ecologies, flora, fauna, climate, elements, things, and interconnections [and] has created openings across academic fields regarding who and what has the capacity to know” (p. 1). The word “renewed” is key, since as Ulmer and many others point out, posthumanism does not inaugurate such attention, but rather follows a rich and varied legacy of indigenous knowledges that have long positioned the human as part of, rather than sovereign over, a vibrant ecology of active matter and systems. This entry introduces feminist posthumanism, paying specific attention to key thinkers, including philosopher Rosi Braidotti, and further explores emerging methodologies for engaging in research that accounts for the posthumanist turn in feminist thought and action.

NOTE: This is the self-archive version of the chapter “Humans Have Always Been Posthuman: A Spiritual Genealogy of the Posthuman”
In: Banerji, D., Paranjape, M.R. (eds.) Critical Posthumanism and Planetary Futures, Springer, October 2016, pp. 243-256. ISBN: 978-81-322-3637-5 (Print). For the final version of this article, please purchase the chapter: http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-81-322-3637-5_15
ABSTRACT: This article wishes to unveil the relevance of spirituality in the genealogy of Cultural, Critical and Philosophical Posthumanism. In its genealogical endeavor, it expands the lens of the posthuman outside of Western academia, to Eastern traditions of thought such as Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Yoga and Tantrism. This article first provides an introduction to the topic of Posthumanism and spirituality. Secondly, it highlights ancient spiritual traditions which are in tune with the posthuman approach; lastly, it elaborates on the development of the spiritual politics of the posthuman, by emphasizing the relevance of Posthumanism as a contemporary philosophy of life. This article argues that spirituality, in its all-encompassing signification, is in tune with the core meaning of the posthuman post-dualistic perspective. And still, this article also wishes to emphasize that no specific tradition can be regarded as fully representative of the posthuman, as most of these traditional systems of thought, once systematized, have adapted to anthropocentric and humanistic paradigms. This is why, although Posthumanism is deeply indebted to the spiritual realm, its offerings are unique, original and very much needed. In the age of the Anthropocene, Posthumanism is required to develop daily ethics of living based on an integral investment of its post-anthropocentric premises. The notion of spirituality dramatically broadens our understanding of the posthuman, allowing us to investigate not only technical technologies (robotics, cybernetics, biotechnology, nanotechnology, among others), but also, technologies of existence. In this sense, humans have always been posthuman.

David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas challenges the possibilities of textual (re)generation, problematizing archival practices in the posthu-man age through the multiplication of Sonmi’s (inter)faces from the subject interviewed by the Archivist to the mysterious embodiment revered by the Valleysmen and the hologram of Meronym’s orison. In cyberspace, a “bodiless exultation” (William Gibson), her existence as an avatar, a term relevant both for Hinduism and technology, is symptomatic of the “state of exception” (Giorgio Agamben) brought on by Unanimity’s attempt to scapegoat her. My paper will discuss the storing and restoring of cultural meaning, be it in the Icon’ry or the orison as a Borgesian map of the Empire, as well as the power of micro narratives to disrupt and displace master narratives. Sonmi’s haunting presence sheds new light over the structure of the novel, splicing reality and fiction as well as reality and simulated reality.

In the framework of contemporary ecocritical and posthumanist theories, this comparative analysis of works by Paolo Mantegazza, Ouida, and Vernon Lee focuses on the conflictual relationship of proximity and differentiation at stake in the human-animal distinction in a post-Darwinian context dominated by the rise of experimental sciences. A discussion of vivisection and animal taming prompted by anthropocentric works as Mantegazza's _Fisiologia del dolore_ and _Upilio Faimali_ in tension with pro-animal essays by Ouida and Vernon Lee shows how the animal, caught between pure inert materiality and idealization, emerges as an intrinsic lack that the human fills with contending rational, utilitarian, moral, and affective motivations.

In this article, I draw together feminist research on the distinct areas of assisted human reproduction (or new reproductive technology) and post-constructionist theory to examine some common methodological and epistemological issues fundamental for reproductive justice. I revisit the notion of technologically-assisted (reproductive) disembodiment (e.g., in vitro fertilization, surrogacy and egg donation) in light of theoretical developments in feminism, in particular post-constructionism. Specifically, I ask what light is shed on the paradox of reproduction (in particular disembodied reproduction) by feminist post-constructionism?

In the contemporary science fiction TV series Fringe (2008-2013), non-human humans passing as humans (shapeshifters) as well as identical human doppelgangers contribute to blurring the boundaries between what are considered ‘authentic’ and ‘fake’ identities. As part of a trend in present day popular culture, Fringe addresses questions of selfhood and agency as performative identity practices for both non-humans and humans alike. In this paper I discuss what is at stake when (human) exceptionalism or sense of individuality is contested as uniquely fixed and stable states of being. Through a close reading of Fringe, I explore the ways in which conventional and literally self-contained notions of identity are confronted with a potentially monstrous multiplicity of simultaneous, and identically embodied, identities. Particularly, I focus on the (human) protagonist Olivia Dunham, who exists in three parallel universes, but whose existences are not restricted to her ‘original’ realities. Her movements through different universes or realities point to a destabilization of (human) uniqueness, and a potential flexibility and unpredictability of selfhood and agency. Also, Fringe illustrates how performative identity practices are relational; there are different expectations toward her embodied identity practices and her sense of ‘self’ in the various realities. In line with feminist theories of embodied selfhood and posthumanist feminist critique of human exceptionalism, I suggest that Fringe challenges the idea of a contained and exclusive ‘Self’, and invites further discussion about identity as processes of relational becomings