Critical Posthumanism, Now
Keywords:
Critical Posthumanism, Postanthropocentrism, Posthumanities, Biopolitics, TechnocultureAbstract
This article maps the contemporary field of critical posthumanism as a contested theoretical discourse that interrogates the decentring of the human in technocultural, ecological, and political contexts. Distinguishing academic critical posthumanism from its popular and techno-euphoric variants, it conceptualises posthumanism not as a rupture with humanism but as its ongoing rereading and deconstruction. Tracing successive “waves” of posthumanist thought – from the cyborg and digitalisation to new materialisms and post-anthropocentric biopolitics – the essay situates posthumanism within the institutional transformations of the humanities and the emergence of the posthumanities. It argues for a critical posthumanism that resists technological determinism, reclaims humanist critical practices, whilst foregrounding ethical and political responsibility in the face of planetary crisis.
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