Human No More Digital Subjectivities, Unhuman Subjects, and the End of Anthropology

Turning an anthropological eye toward cyberspace, Human No More explores how conditions of the online world shape identity, place, culture, and death within virtual communities. Online worlds have recently thrown into question the traditional anthropological conception of place-based ethnography. Th...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors Whitehead, Neil L., Wesch, Michael
Format eBook Book
LanguageEnglish
Published Boulder University Press of Colorado 2012
Edition1
Subjects
Anthropology
Anthropology > Philosophy
Computers and civilization
Cybernetics
Cybernetics > Philosophy
Online social networks
Philosophy
SOCIAL SCIENCE
SOCIAL SCIENCE / General
Sociology
Virtual reality
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Table of Contents:
  • Front Matter Table of Contents Introduction: 1: The Mutual Co-Construction of Online and Onground in Cyborganic: 2: We Were Always Human 3: Manufacturing and Encountering “Human” in the Age of Digital Reproduction 4: The Digital Graveyard: 5: Anonymous, Anonymity, and the End(s) of Identity and Groups Online: 6: Splitting and Layering at the Interface: 7: Avatar: 8: Technology, Representation, and the “E-thropologist”: 9: The Adventures of Mark and Olly: 10: Invisible Caboclos and Vagabond Ethnographers: 11: Marginal Bodies, Altered States, and Subhumans: 12: Are We There Yet? Afterword List of Contributors Index
  • POSTHUMAN ENACTMENT AND RE-PRESENTATION IN ONLINE NETWORKS -- AVATAR/PROFILE/ICON AS (PERFORMATIVE) TECHNOLOGY -- NOSTALGIA REPRODUCED: AUTHENTICATING INDIANNESS -- BOLLYWOODIZATION OF SOUTH ASIAN DIGITAL DIASPORAS -- DESI YOUTH HANGING OUT IN DIGITAL DIASPORA -- DESIS ON SECOND LIFE: DEEP HANGING OUT WITH RADHIKA -- IS SHE "MORE" REAL BECAUSE I "KNOW" HER ON ORKUT? -- INTERLUDE -- Radhika (age 50): -- Aditi (age 24): -- Script 1 -- Script 2 -- Script 3 -- Final Script -- CONCLUSION -- NOTES -- REFERENCES -- 7. Avatar -- THE INCREASING POPULARITY OF VIRTUAL WORLDS -- PERSONHOOD AND IDENTITY -- FORMING AND MAINTAINING RELATIONSHIPS IN VIRTUAL WORLDS -- OVERCOMING DISABILITY -- DISCUSSION -- REFERENCES -- 8. Technology, Representation, and the "E-thropologist" -- REFERENCES -- 9. The Adventures of Mark and Olly -- THE GAZE OF HUMANISM: VISIONS OF ANTHROPOLOGY, VERSIONS OF CULTURAL CRITIQUE -- FIRST CONTACT AS COLONIAL NARRATIVE -- COLONIAL HUMANISM: THE FICTIONAL REALITY OF REALITY TV -- MARKETING THE STONE AGE: REALITY TV AS VISUAL IMPERIALISM -- THE PLEASURES AND HORRORS OF THE ETHNOGRAPHIC GAZE: A CULTURAL CRITIQUE OF ANTHROPOLOGY -- NOTES -- REFERENCES -- 10. Invisible Caboclos and Vagabond Ethnographers -- INTRODUCTION -- STUDYING CABOCLOS -- COLLABORATION -- CABOCLOS AND HIPPIES IN THE SAME FRAME -- CONCLUSIONS -- NOTES -- REFERENCES -- 11. Marginal Bodies, Altered States, and Subhumans -- SÃO PAULO'S CITY CENTER: A BRIEF HISTORY -- ON THE PRACA -- URBAN OPERATIONS -- UNHUMAN SUBJECTS AND DIGITAL SUBJECTIVITIES -- CONCLUSION -- NOTES -- REFERENCES -- 12. Are We There Yet? -- TRADITION, MODERNITY, AND THE COLLAPSE OF CULTURE -- CULTURE, NATURE, AND THE POSTHUMAN -- CONCLUSION -- NOTES -- REFERENCES -- Afterword -- REFERENCES -- Contributors -- Index
  • Cover Page -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- Introduction Human No More -- HUMAN NO MORE? -- EXPLORING POSTHUMAN LIMITS AND POSSIBILITIES -- RETHINKING FIELDWORK IN THE AGE OF THE POSTHUMAN -- BEYOND HUMAN NO MORE -- REFERENCES -- 1. The Mutual Co-Construction of Online and Onground in Cyborganic -- PART 1 -- Online/Onground Mutuality in Cyborganic -- Cyborganic's Place-Based Legacies: Silicon Valley and Bay Area Countercultures -- Place, Media, and Colocation -- Space Bar: Configurable Sociality from Colocation to Presence Casting -- PART 2 -- Challenges of the Posthuman -- NOTES -- REFERENCES -- 2. We Were Always Human -- EXTERNALIZATION AND REIFICATION OF THE SYMBOLIC -- IDENTITY EXPRESSION AND EXPERIMENTATION IN THE AGE OF FACEBOOK -- MEDIATION AND ITS DISCONTENTS -- EXTENDING HUMAN CAPABILITIES: FROM HUMAN TO ... HUMAN? -- REFERENCES -- 3. Manufacturing and Encountering "Human" in the Age of Digital Reproduction -- HUMAN OR MACHINE -- CYBORG ANTHROPOLOGY -- AZ_TIFFANY -- REPRODUCING HUMAN -- BLURRING AND REESTABLISHING BOUNDARIES -- UPGRADING CYBORG ANTHROPOLOGY -- SAM -- ENCOUNTERING SAM -- CONCLUSIONS ... AND BEGINNINGS -- NOTES -- REFERENCES -- 4. The Digital Graveyard -- DIGITAL TRACES, VIRTUAL PLACES -- MY(DEATH)SPACE -- DEATH IN THE TRIBE(.NET) -- SPECTERS OF FACEBOOK -- LIVING ON ONLINE -- NOTES -- REFERENCES -- 5. Anonymous, Anonymity, and the End(s) of Identity and Groups Online -- RESEARCHING ANONYMOUS -- PLAYING WITH "IDENTITY" -- ANONYMOUS AS CORE MORAL VALUE -- ANONYMOUS AS CULTURAL CRITIQUE -- THE END(S) OF IDENTITY -- NOTES -- REFERENCES -- 6. Splitting and Layering at the Interface -- INTRODUCTION -- COMMUNICATIVE SPACES OF DIASPORA -- TRANSNATIONAL ECONOMIES AND DIASPORAS DIGITALLY MEDIATED -- SOUTH ASIAN DIGITAL DIASPORAS TO INDIAN DIGITAL DIASPORAS
  • Marginal bodies, altered states, and subhumans (dis)articulations between physical and virtual realities in centro, são paulo --
  • Human No More --
  • Invisible caboclos and vagabond ethnographers a look at ethnographic engagement in twenty-first-century amazonia --
  • Contents --
  • Avatar a posthuman perspective on virtual worlds --
  • We were always human --
  • Contributors --
  • Manufacturing and encountering “Human” in the age of digital reproduction --
  • The adventures of mark and olly the pleasures and horrors of anthropology on tv --
  • The mutual co-construction of online and onground in cyborganic Making an ethnography of networked social media speak to challenges of the posthuman --
  • Index
  • The digital graveyard online social networking sites as vehicles of remembrance --
  • Front Matter --
  • Afterword --
  • Technology, representation, and the “e-thropologist” the shape-shifting field among native amazonians --
  • Are we there yet? the end of anthropology is beyond the human --
  • Splitting and Layering at the Interface Mediating Indian Diasporas across Generations --
  • Anonymous, anonymity, and the end(s) of identity and groups online lessons from the “first internet-based superconsciousness” --