Unreal Objects : Digital Materialities, Technoscientific Projects and Political Realities

Kate O'Riordan

ISBN 10: 0745336787 / ISBN 13: 9780745336787

Published by Pluto Press (UK) Nov 2017, 2017

About this Item

Neuware - Unpacks the political economy of new science and technology projects, and the implications for a utopian future.

Seller Inventory # 9780745336787

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Unreal Objects : Digital Materialities, Technoscientific Projects and Political Realities
• Publisher: Pluto Press (UK) Nov 2017
• Publication Date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0745336787
• ISBN 13: 9780745336787
• Binding: Buch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 216W x 135H x 20D millimeters 216 millimeters width by 135 millimeters height by 20 millimeters depth

About this title

Synopsis

More than ever before, scientific and technological innovations are playing increasingly important roles in our lives. New products developing today will fundamentally shape the world around us and manipulate our lived experience in the future. In twenty years, we could be zooming on hoverboards to visit real-life Jurassic Parks or navigating with our optic-implanted GPS systems. In this age of blossoming innovation, however, many wonder: how and why are these important projects chosen? And what are the ultimate consequences of this process?
 
In Unreal Objects, Kate O’Riordan unpacks these crucial questions and fills a gap in the theorization of digital materialities. Through her investigation, she discovers that many objects—such as genomic projects, artificial meat, and re-creation of extinct species—cannot be granted scientific legitimacy and developed without extraordinary amounts of media, celebrity endorsements, and private investment. As a result of these filters, only certain projects take center stage when it comes to funding and political attention. O’Riordan calls these unreal objects; scientific projects and technologies whose utopian visions for the future are combined with investment and materialization in the here and now. By separating the media hype from the reality, O’Riordan shows how the huge amount of attention paid to these unreal objects hides more pressing social injustices and inequalities, while at the same time conjuring utopian visions for how life might be lived.
 

About the Author

Kate O’Riordan is a reader in digital media at the University of Sussex. She has authored or edited five books including The Genome Incorporated: Constructing Biodigital Identity.