FASoS Colloquium 22 May 2013 15.30-17.00
Attic (Soiron Building)
Anne-Jorunn Berg, University of Nordland, Norway
ABSTRACT
The Cyborg – the naughty girl that drifted around in cyberspace – what happened to her? Did she just fade away when cyberspace became just another familiar, mundane everyday space? Can we speak of a Cyborg legacy? The revitalised interest for matter and materiality in feminist theory sparks such questions. That is, a renewed interest in examining materiality as flexible, lively, performative and/or constantly changing. This is partly posed as a critique of post-structuralism for being too concerned with discourse and social constructionism. Starting from Karen Barad’s “agential realism” and “intra-action”, two terms which have gained a strong position in feminist circles, I will explore what the material turn in feminist theory might entail from a STS perspective. I will kick off in my rereading of Donna Haraway’s renowned Cyborg Manifesto, a central text both in anglo-american/western feminism as well as in STS. The Cyborg challenges us to think entanglement rather than ontological diversity as a basis for exploring the world. Does “agential realism” and “intra-action” do more?
BIONOTE
Anne-Jorunn Berg works as professor of sociology at the Faculty for social science, University of Nordland, Bodoe, Norway. Her professorship has its emphasis on Science and technology studies (STS) and feminist theory. In addition her research profile includes the following keywords: Gender studies, Information- and communication technologies, Cultural studies of everyday life and Post-colonial studies.
