Summary
The essay “A cyborg manifesto” by Donna Haraway presents a revolutionary view of humanity’s future developments. In her work, the intersections between dualistic concepts like genders, primitivism, truth, deific/humane, order/chaos, and others must be eradicated in order to create a cyborg society (Haraway, 2016). The author chooses the concept of a cyborg to represent the ideal combination of a machine and a living being.
The basis for these changes lies in the creation of unified chaos, where all differences are erased and boundaries are broken down. One of the significant oppositions in this essay is a fictional setting that aims to resolve real-life issues. In order to achieve that, Haraway states that boundaries between physical and spiritual, man, animal, and machine must be eliminated (Haraway, 2016). This lack of dualism in many forms, concepts, and states presents a wide array of wild guesses, as the author describes possibilities beyond the traditional way of life.
This essay also provides an early insight into the anticipated changes in society that will inevitably be introduced by digital technologies. A crucial part of this transformation of societal norms is the views on information as a resource. Haraway (2016) describes information as “just that kind of quantifiable element (unit, basis of unity) that allows universal translation and so unhindered instrumental power” (p. 33). Nowadays, the idea of information as the most valuable resource is at its peak, as the author’s work continues to predict the development of technologies.
In her work, the author includes strong criticism against Western politics, traditions, culture, and society. Haraway (2016) describes Western science and politics as “the tradition of racist, male-dominant capitalism; the tradition of progress; the tradition of the appropriation of nature as a resource for the productions of culture” (p. 7). She argues that within Western traditions, it is impossible to achieve the desired state of life as per modern feministic views. Haraway highlights the importance of communication and harm that can be done to human society if the transmission of information is interrupted, which is something Western societies do practice (Haraway, 2016). She calls for the dissipation of Western identity to achieve progress.
The author also points out that feminism in modern times lacks the notion of the alliance between human beings. Haraway refers to the works of other writers to construct a point of culmination, the fact that the lack of identification. The author argues that feminism still operates in Western ideologies, which she strongly denounces (Haraway, 2016). In the end, Haraway stands against separate identities, calling for the abolishment of the idea of genders, and ushers people to restructure feminism into the ideology of unification instead of separation.
My Reaction to The Work
For me, this essay creates contradictory feelings, as the Utopian vision of the author is both reasonable and hard to imagine. This essay presents an idea of a world not within the boundaries of traditional feministic views; instead, it describes the possible result of the globalization process. Latimer (2017) argues that this essay requires readers “to retrieve a sense of those matters – effect, care, relationality, and immersion in the mess – which are so crucial to knowledge-making and to reassembling the social” (p. 247). The complexity of “A cyborg manifesto” required constant contemplating on relations between both material and abstract aspects of human lives, especially social interactions.
The modern world operates mainly on a materialistic basis, while this work proposes a firm rejection of this notion. While I can not perceive how it is possible to achieve the erasure of duality of many material constants, it is evident that spiritual and social dualistic concepts can be changed and merged. The current state of technological developments can be viewed as mutual assimilation, as many concepts are being drawn closer, their boundaries dissipating. As for materialistic ideas, I believe it is possible to trace how humans, who create machines, do not merely utilize them but slowly being assimilated by technologies.
I agree with the author’s views on the lack of necessity for separations between many aspects of human lives. Haraway (2016) argues that as “the boundary between human and animal is thoroughly breached,” other partitions must be eventually torn down (p. 9).
Due to its unrealistic propositions, I found it hard to agree with several of the points. While it is described as a Utopian world, this proposed vision is challenging for me to completely agree with as some fundamental concepts of modern human lives are defined to be nonexistent, such as privacy. Moreover, the author implies that the existence of cyborgs will not bring the state of the world to harmony. Instead, it will be a chaotic amalgamation of currently strictly dualistic concepts in all aspects of life. This multidimensional transformation of living beings brings the reader to unfamiliar grounds, inviting them to explore a non-human state of mind (Orr, 2012). Haraway’s work imagines a colossal potential for both destruction and creation of forms and concepts, which makes it difficult to imagine the new vision of her cyborg-filled world. This proposed way of existence is hard for me to agree with, while I see why Haraway advocates for its necessity to achieve the complete transition to cyborg society. A cyborg society that is presented by Haraway is unlike anything that I have imagined prior to her work.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this revolutionary essay by Haraway had a substantial impact on feminist movements across the globe and made me reimagine the future potential of interactions between humans and machines. “A cyborg manifesto” presents a unique view on critical real-world issues through the lens of a fictional idealistic setting. With her essay, Haraway explained her vision that put a significant emphasis on technology as a means for true freedom. Her views on gender as a fluid construction instead of a constant were significantly ahead of time. Multiple other concepts that are outlined in Haraway’s essay are not being reimagined as the world’s population becomes more progressive.
So far, Haraway’s forecast has been proven mainly by recent technological developments, which put humanity closer to achieving the world she imagined back in 1985. The lines between humans and technology are not blurred to the point as Haraway described them in her setting, however, this process is observable nowadays. Haraway (2016) describes how this process is already underway as “the difference between natural and artificial, mind and body, self-developing and externally designed, and many other distinctions” are being erased (p. 10). Humanity is more dependent on technology than ever, and this dependence is what will lead people to this mixed reality. The duality of constants is being questioned with an increasing frequency, signifying the need for a change.
References
Haraway, D. J. (2016). A cyborg manifesto: Science, technology, and socialist-feminism in the late twentieth century. In Manifestly Haraway. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Latimer, J. (2017). Review: Donna J Haraway, Manifestly Haraway: The cyborg manifesto, the companion species manifesto, companions in conversation (with Cary Wolfe). Theory, Culture & Society, 34(7-8), 245-252. Web.
Orr, J. (2012). Materializing a cyborg’s manifesto. WSQ: Women’s Studies Quarterly, 40(1-2), 273-280. Web.