Revitalizing science and technology studies: A Marxian critique of more-than-human geographies

Abstract

This article revisits Marx’s philosophy of history with respect to technological change, outlining some elements for the elaboration of a research agenda for materialist studies of science and technology. I argue that dominant thinking on the subject has been insufficiently attentive to relations of production and to the constitutive role of practical, transformative activity. The article suggests that a focus on class relations not only foregrounds the eminently open and contested nature of technology but also renders into view the multiplicity of actors and agencies involved in the making of natures. I draw from a subterranean strand of Marxist theorists of technology to develop a more-than-human approach to political agency through an interrogation of the complex interactions between human and machine in the everyday, experiential practicalities of the labor process. On this basis, the article contends that foregrounding the class preconditions for an alternative scientific praxis should assert itself as the starting point and horizon of a materialist Science and Technology Studies.

Relations of Power and Nonhuman Agency: Critical Theory, Clever Hans, and Other Stories of Horses and Humans

“…The aim of this article was to respond simultaneously to calls to take the animal question more seriously (Gunderson 2014) and to adopt a more critical approach to human and nonhuman agency more widely (Arboleda 2017; Lemke 2018). Specifically, it has shown how the ideas of Horkheimer, Adorno, and Habermas illuminate and challenge the marginalization of domestic animals in rich countries and help us imagine a broader more inclusive moral community for the future.…”

“…In summary, this article responds both to Gunderson’s (2014) invitation to take the animal question seriously and to wider calls to adopt a more critical approach to human-nonhuman agency (e.g. Arboleda 2017; Lemke 2018). Specifically, it explores how the relations between one particular subset of human and nonhuman actors are embedded within their broader socio-political context.…”

“…Martin Arboleda (2017) suggests the underlying premise of new materialisms is now selfevident and he urges us to move from tautologous accounts of nonhuman agency toward more critical approaches. Thomas Lemke (2018) makes a similar observation:…”

“…Martin Arboleda (2017) suggests the underlying premise of new materialisms is now self-evident and he urges us to move from tautologous accounts of nonhuman agency toward more critical approaches. Thomas Lemke (2018) makes a similar observation:It is not sufficient to celebrate the move from dead and passive to vibrant and active matter; we need an analysis of how matter is differentially mobilized and to what ends.…”

Furthering post-human political ecologies

“…While some political ecologists are apt to recognize that there is something theoretically cutting edge about post-human geographies, some are also apt to question whether this edge is sharp (i.e. political) enough for political ecology (Arboleda 2017). The next section discusses critiques of post-humanism that are likely to resonate with political ecologists while mapping out a few directions that might be pursued in political ecology to ensure that post-human geographies are equipped to wield a critical edge.…”