Seeing Like a Cyborg? The Innocence of Posthuman Knowledge

This chapter examines some prominent periodisations of the current epoch as the age of the ‘posthuman’ and of 'hybridity'. Looking in particular to the work of Bruno Latour and Donna Haraway, the chapter assesses the way these and other theorists look primarily to contemporary technological developments as the basis for articulations of a fundamental transformation of existential experience. The chapter argues that such theories have a tendency to neglect both entrenched global divisions in access to the rewards as well as exposure to the perils that recent technological advancements imply. Moreover, it is claimed they overlook the continuity of historical structures of inequality in their assessments of technological change. The chapter proposes recalling the peculiar conditions from which our conceptions of digital experience are forged, namely contemporary regimes of private property. Not only might this prove valuable for reflection upon the historical horizons of our social theories, but also for understanding the impulses animating them.