Tactical Biopolitics ─ Art, Activism, and Technoscience

Popular culture in this "biological century" seems to feed on proliferating representations of the fears, anxieties, and hopes around the life sciences, at a time when such basic concepts as scientific truth, race and gender identity, and the human itself are destabilized in the public eye. Tactical Biopolitics suggests that the political challenges at the intersection of life, science, and art are best addressed through a combination of artistic intervention, critical theorizing, and reflective practices. Transcending disciplinary boundaries, contributions to this volume focus on the political significance of recent advances in the biological sciences and explore the possibility of public participation in scientific discourse, drawing on research and practice in art, biology, critical theory, anthropology, and cultural studies.

Contributing authors practice and theorize biology (Richard Lewontin, Richard Levins, Fatimah Jackson, Jonathan King), bioart (Paul Vanouse, Symbiotica, Claire Pentecost), tactical media (Critical Art Ensemble, subRosa), anthropology (Paul Rabinow, Gabriella Coleman), critical theory (Eugene Thacker), sociology (Troy Duster), science studies (Donna Haraway), health activism (Mark Harrington), feminist science fiction (Gwyneth Jones), and more.

Beatriz da Costa does interventionist art using computing and biotechnologies, and Kavita Philip studies colonialism, neoliberalism, and technoscience using history and critical theory. Both are Associate Professors at the University of California, Irvine.

A Leonardo Book

"Tactical Biopolitics is a snapshot of the state-of-the-art at one of the farthest frontiers of interdisciplinary exploration."uCheryl A. Kerfeld, PLoS Biology

"Scholars who concentrate on the nonscientific aspects of bioscience and biotechnology are often identified with ethical and legal scholarship focused on narrow range of issues. It is therefore refreshing to find in Tactical Biopolitics a diverse collection of essays that extend the horizon of inquiry into the meanings and impacts of bioscience and biotechnology."uDavid Castle, The Quarterly Review of Biology

Kavita Philip studies colonialism, neoliberalism, and technoscience using history and critical theory. She is an Associate Professor at the University of California, Irvine.