Cyborg Donna Haraway, A Cyborg Manifesto Science, Technology, And Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century,

8/12/2019 Cyborg Donna Haraway, A Cyborg Manifesto Science, Technology, And Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century,

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This iss!e is only one as+ect of en8!iry into the +ossibility of a feminist science, b!t itis im+ortant 4hat %ind of constit!ti6e role in the +rod!ction of %nowledge,imagination, and +ractice can new gro!+s doing science ha6e How can these gro!+s be

allied with +rogressi6e social and +olitical mo6ements 4hat %ind of +oliticalacco!ntability can be constr!cted to the women together across the scientific-technicalhierarchies se+arating !s Might there be ways of de6elo+ing feministscience technology +olitics in alliance with and-military science facility con6ersionaction gro!+s Many sciendfic and technical wor%ers in Silicon alley, the high-techcowboys incl!ded, do not want to wor% on military science EE Can these +ersonal

+references and c!lt!ral tendencies be welded into +rogressi6e +olitics among this +rofessional middle class in which women, incl!ding women of colo!r, are coming to be fairly n!mero!s

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et me s!mmari>e the +ict!re of women s historical locations in ad6anced ind!strialsocieties, as these +ositions ha6e been restr!ct!red +artly thro!gh the social relations ofscience and technology /f it was e6er +ossible ideologically to characteri>e women sli6es by the disdnction of +!blic and +ri6ate domains-- s!ggested by images of thedi6ision of wor%ing-class life into factory and home, of bo!rgeois life into mar%et andhome, and of gender e;istence into +ersonal and +olitical realms --it is now a totallymisleading ideology, e6en to show how both terms of these dichotomies constr!ct eachother in +ractice and in theory / +refer a networ% ideological image, s!ggesting the

+rof!sion of s+aces and identities and the +ermeability of bo!ndaries in the +ersonal body and in the body +olitic #etwor%ing is both a feminist +ractice and am!ltinational cor+orate strategy -- wea6ing is for o++ositional cyborgs

So let me ret!rn to the earlier image of the informatics of domination and trace one6ision of women s +lace in the integrated circ!it, to!ching only a few ideali>ed sociallocations seen +rimarily from the +oint of 6iew of ad6anced ca+italist societies: Home,Mar%et, 5aid 4or% 5lace, State, School, Clinic-Hos+ital, and Ch!rch 1ach of theseideali>ed s+aces is logically and +ractically im+lied in e6ery other loc!s, +erha+sanalogo!s to a hologra+hic +hotogra+h / want to s!ggest the im+act of the socialrelations mediated and enforced by the new technologies in order to hel+ form!lateneeded analysis and +ractical wor% Howe6er, there is no +lace for women in thesenetwor%s, only geometries of difference and contradiction cr!cial to women s cyborgidentities /f we learn how to read these webs of +ower and social life, we might learnnew co!+lings, new coalitions There is no way to read the following list from a

stand+oint of idendfication , of a !nitary self The iss!e is dis+ersion The tas% is tos!r6i6e in the dias+ora


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Home: 4omen-headed ho!seholds, serial monogamy, flight of men, old women alone,technology of domestic wor%, +aid homewor%, re-emergence of home sweat-sho+s,home-based b!sinesses and telecom-m!ting, electronic cottage, !rban homelessness,

migration, mod!le architect!re, reinforced sim!lated* n!clear family, intense domestic6iolence

Mar%et: 4omen s contin!ing cons!m+tion wor%, newly targeted to b!y the +rof!sion ofnew +rod!ction from the new technologies es+ecially as the com+etiti6e race amongind!striali>ed and ind!striali>ing nations to a6oid dangero!s mass !nem+loymentnecessitates finding e6er bigger new mar%ets for e6er less clearly needed commodities*&

bimodal b!ying +ower, co!+led with ad6ertising targeting of the n!mero!s affl!entgro!+s and neglect of the +re6io!s mass mar%ets& growing im+ortance of

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informal mar%ets in labo!r and commodities +arallel to high-tech, affl!ent mar%etstr!ct!res& s!r6eillance systems thro!gh electronic f!nds transfer& intensified mar%etabstraction commodification* of e;+erience, res!lting in ineffecti6e !to+ian ore8!i6alent cynical theories of comm!nity& e;treme mobility abstraction* ofmar%eting financing systems& inter-+enetration of se;!al and labo!r mar%ets& intensifiedse;!ali>ation of abstracted and alienated cons!m+tion

5aid 4or% 5lace: Contin!ed intense se;!al and racial di6ision of labo!r, b!tconsiderable growth of membershi+ in +ri6ileged occ!+ational categories for manywhite women and +eo+le of colo!r& im+act of new technologies on women s wor% inclerical, ser6ice, man!fact!ring es+ecially te;tiles*, agric!lt!re, electronics&international restr!ct!ring of the wor%ing classes& de6elo+ment of new timearrangements to facilitate the homewor% economy fle; time, +art time, o6er time, notime*& homewor% and o!t wor%& increased +ress!res for two-tiered wage str!ct!res&

significant n!mbers of +eo+le in cash-de+endent +o+!lations world-wide with noe;+erience or no f!rther ho+e of stable em+loyment& most labo!r marginal orfemini>ed

State: Contin!ed erosion of the welfare state& decentrali>ations with increaseds!r6eillance and control& citi>enshi+ by telematics& im+erialism and +olitical +ower

broadly in the form of information rich information +oor differentiation& increased high-tech militari>ation increasingly o++osed by many social gro!+s& red!ction of ci6ilser6ice 9obs as a res!lt of the growing ca+ital intensification of office wor%, with

im+lications for occ!+ational mobility for women of colo!r& growing +ri6ad>ation ofmaterial and ideological life and c!lt!re& close integration of +ri6ati>ation and


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militari>ation, the high-tech forms of bo!rgeois ca+italist +ersonal and +!blic life&in6isibility of different social gro!+s to each other, lin%ed to +sychological mechanismsof belief in abstract enemies

School: Dee+ening co!+ling of high-tech ca+ital needs and +!blic ed!ca-tion at allle6els, differentiated by race, class, and gender& managerial classes in6ol6ed ined!cational reform and ref!nding at the cost of

remaining +rogressi6e ed!cational democratic str!ct!res for children and teachers&ed!cation for mass ignorance and re+ression in technocratic and militari>ed c!lt!re&growing and-science mystery c!lts in dissendng and radical +olitical mo6ements&contin!ed relati6e scientific illiteracy among white women and +eo+le of colo!r&growing ind!strial direction of ed!cation es+ecially higher ed!cation* by science-basedm!ltinationals +artic!larly in electronics- and biotechnology-de+endent com+anies*&highly ed!cated, n!mero!s elites in a +rogressi6ely bimodal society

Clinic-hos+ital: /ntensified machine-body relations& renegotiations of

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+!blic meta+hors which channel +ersonal e;+erience of the body, +artic!larly in relationto re+rod!ction, imm!ne system f!nctions, and stress +henomena& intensification ofre+rod!cti6e +olitics in res+onse to world historical im+lications of women s !nreali>ed,

+otential control of their relation to re+rod!ction& emergence of new, historicallys+ecific diseases& str!ggles o6er meanings and means of health in en6ironments

+er6aded by high technology +rod!cts and +rocesses& contin!ing femini>ation of healthwor%& intensified str!ggle o6er state res+onsibility for health& contin!ed ideological roleof +o+!lar health mo6ements as a ma9or form of American +olitics

Ch!rch: 1lectronic f!ndamentalist s!+er-sa6er +reachers solemni>ing the !nion ofelectronic ca+ital and a!tomated fetish gods& intensified im+ortance of ch!rches inresisting the militari>ed state& central str!ggle o6er women s meanings and a!thority inreligion& contin!ed rele6ance of s+irit!ality, intertwined with se; and health, in +oliticalstr!ggle

The only way to characteri>e the informatics of domination is as a massi6e

intensification of insec!rity and c!lt!ral im+o6erishment, with common fail!re ofs!bsistence networ%s for the most 6!lnerable Since m!ch of this +ict!re interwea6es


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with the social relations of science and technology, the !rgency of a socialist-feminist +olitics addressed to science and technology is +lain There is m!ch now being tione,and the gro!nds for +olitical wor% are rich For e;am+le, the efforts to de6elo+ forms ofcollecd6e str!ggle for women in +aid wor%, li%e S1/3 s District )Eation, in6ol6ingcomm!nity, se;!ality, and family iss!es ne6er +ri6ileged in the largely white maleind!strial !nions

The str!ct!ral rearrangements related to the social relations of science and technologye6o%e strong ambi6alence 7!t it is not necessary to be !ldmately de+ressed by theim+lications of late twentieth-cent!ry women s relation to all as+ects of wor%, c!lt!re,

+rod!ction of %nowledge, se;!ality, and re+rod!ction For e;cellent reasons, mostMar;isms see domination best and ha6e tro!ble !nderstanding what can only loo% li%efalse conscio!sness and +eo+le s com+licity in their own domination in late ca+italism/t is cr!cial to remember that what is lost, +erha+s es+ecially from women s +oints of6iew, is often 6ir!lent forms of o++ression, nostalgically nat!rali>ed in the face ofc!rrent 6iolation Ambi6alence towards the disr!+ted !nides mediated by high-techc!lt!re re8!ires not sorting conscio!sness into categories of clear-sighted criti8!egro!nding a solid +olitical e+istemology

GSer6ice 1m+loyees /nternational 3nion s office wor%ers organi>ation in the 3S

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6ers!s mani+!lated false conscio!sness , b!t s!btle !nderstanding of emerging +leas!res, e;+eriences, and +owers with serio!s +otential for changing the r!les of thegame

There are gro!nds for ho+e in the emerging bases for new %inds of !nity across race,gender, and class, as these elementary !nits of socialist-feminist analysis themsel6ess!ffer +rotean transformations /ntensifications of hardshi+ e;+erienced world-wide inconnection with the social relations of science and technology are se6ere 7!t what

+eo+le are e;+eriencing is not trans+arently clear, and we lac% a!fficiently s!btleconnections for collecti6ely b!ilding effecti6e theories of e;+erience 5resent efforts -Mar;ist, +sychoanalytic, feminist, anthro+ological-- to clarify e6en o!r e;+erience arer!dimentary


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/ am conscio!s of the odd +ers+ecd6e +ro6ided by my historical +osition - a 5hD in biology for an /rish Catholic girl was made +ossible by S+!tni% s im+act on 3S nationalscience-ed!cation +olicy / ha6e a body and mind as m!ch constr!cted by the +ost-Second 4orld 4ar arms race and cold war as by the women s mo6ements There aremore gro!nds for ho+e in foc!sing on the contradictory effects of +olitics designed to

+rod!ce loyal American technocrats, which also +rod!ced large n!mbers of dissidents,than in foc!sing on the +resent defeats

The +ermanent +ardality of feminist +oints of 6iew has conse8!ences for o!re;+ectations of forms of +olitical organi>ation and +artici+ation 4e do not need atotality in order to wor% well The feminist dream of a common lang!age, li%e alldreams for a +erfectly tr!e lang!age, of +erfectly faithf!l naming of e;+erience, is atotali>ing and im+erialist one /n that sense, dialectics too is a dream lang!age, longingto resol6e contradiction 5erha+s, ironically, we can learn from o!r f!sions with animalsand machines how not to be Man, the embodiment of 4estern logos From the +oint of6iew of +leas!re in these +otent and taboo f!sions, made ine6itable by the socialrelations of science and technology, there might indeed be a feminist science

C$70'2S: A M$TH 0F 50 /T/CA /D1#T/T$

/ want to concl!de with a myth abo!t idendty and bo!ndaries which might inform latetwentieth-cent!ry +olitical imaginations 5late (* / am indebted in this story to writersli%e Boanna '!ss, Sam!el ' Delany, Bohn arley, Bames Ti+tree, Br, 0cta6ia 7!tler,Moni8!e 4ittig, and onda Mc/ntyre E? These are o!r story-tellers e;+loring what itmeans to be embodied in high-tech worlds They are theorists for cyborgs 1;+loringconce+hons of bodily bo!ndaries and social order, the anthro+ologist Mary Do!glas()KK, ()I=* sho!ld be credited with hel+ing !s to conscio!sness abo!t howf!ndamental body imagery is to world 6iew, and so to +olitical lang!age

French feminists li%e !ce /rigaray and Moni8!e 4ittig, for all their differences, %nowhow to write the body& how to wea6e eroticism, cosmology, and +olitics from imageryof embodiment, and es+ecially for 4ittig, from imagery of fragmentation andreconstit!tion of bodies E

American radical feminists li%e S!san 2riffnn, A!dre orde, and Adrienne 'ich ha6e +rofo!ndly affected o!r +olitical imaginations - and +erha+s restricted too m!ch whatwe allow as a friendly body and +olitical lang!age E< They insist on the organic,o++osing it to the technological 7!t their symbolic systems and the related +ositions of

ecofeminism and feminist +aganism, re+lete with organicisms, can only be !nderstoodin Sando6al s terms as o++ositional ideologies fitting the late twentieth cent!ry They


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wo!ld sim+ly bewilder anyone not +reocc!+ied with the machines and conscio!sness oflate ca+italism /n that sense they are +art of the cyborg world 7!t there are also greatriches for feminists in e;+licitly embracing the +ossibilides inherent in the brea%downof clean disdnctions between organism and machine and similar distinctions str!ct!ringthe 4estern self /t is the sim!ltaneity of brea%downs that crac%s the matrices of

domination and o+ens geometric +ossibilities 4hat might be learned from +ersonal and +olitical technological +oll!tion / loo% briefly at two o6erla++ing gro!+s of te;ts fortheir insight into the constr!ction of a +otentially hel+f!l cyborg myth: constr!ctions ofwomen of colo!r and monstro!s sel6es in feminist science fiction

1arlier / s!ggested that women of colo!r might be !nderstood as a cyborg idendty, a +otent s!b9ecd6ity synthesi>ed from f!sions of o!tsider identities and in the com+le; +olitical-historical layerings of her biomythogra+hy , ami orde, ().E& ing, ().Ia,().Ib* There are material and c!lt!ral grids ma++ing this +otential, A!dre orde(). * ca+t!res the tone in the title of her Sister 0!tsider /n my +olitical myth, Sister0!tsider is the offshore woman, whom 3S wor%ers, female and femini>ed, ares!++osed to regard as the enemy +re6end!g their solidarity, threatening their sec!rity0nshore, inside the bo!ndary of the 3nited States, Sister 0!tsider is a +otential amidstthe races and ethnic identities of women mani+!lated for di6ision, com+etition, ande;+loitation in the same ind!stries 4omen of colo!r are the +referred labo!r force forthe science-based ind!stries, the real women for whom the world-wide se;!al mar%et,labo!r mar%et, and +olitics of re+rod!ction %aleidosco+e into daily life $o!ng oreanwomen hired in the se; ind!stry and in electronics assembly are recr!ited from highschools, ed!cated for the integrated circ!it iteracy, es+ecially in 1nglish, disting!ishesthe chea+ female labo!r so attracti6e to the m!ltinationals

Contrary to orientalist stereoty+es of the oral +rimid6e , literacy is a s+ecial mar% ofwomen of colo!r, ac8!ired by 3S blac% women as well as

(Ied gro!+s 4riting has been cr!cial to the4estern myth of the distinction between oral and written c!lt!res, +rimiti6e andci6ili>ed mentalities, and more recently to the erosion of that distinction in+ostmodernist theories attac%ing the +hallogo-centrism of the 4est, with its worshi+ ofthe monotheistic, +hallic, a!thoritati6e, and sing!lar wor%, the !ni8!e and +erfectname EK Contests for the meanings of writing are a ma9or form of contem+orary

+olitical str!ggle 'eleasing the +lay of writing is deadly serio!s The +oetry and storiesof 3S women of colo!r are re+eatedly abo!t writing, abo!t access to the +ower tosignify& b!t this dme that +ower m!st be neither +hallic nor innocent Cyborg writingm!st not be abo!t the Fall, the imagination of a once-!+on-a-time wholeness before

lang!age, before writing, before Man Cyborg writing is abo!t the +ower to s!r6i6e, not


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on the basis of original innocence, b!t on the basis of sei>ing the tools to mar% theworld that mar%ed them as other

The tools are often stories, retold stories, 6ersions that re6erse and dis+lace thehierarchical d!alisms of nat!rali>ed identities /n retelling origin stories, cyborg a!thorss!b6ert the central myths of origin of 4estern c!lt!re 4e ha6e all been coloni>ed bythose origin myths, with their longing for f!lfilment in a+ocaly+se The +hallogocentrieorigin stories most cr!cial for feminist cyborgs are b!ilt into the literal technologies -teehnologies that write the world, biotechnology and microelectronics - that ha6erecently te;t!ali>ed o!r bodies as code +roblems on the grid of C?/ Feminist cyborgstories ha6e the tas% of recoding comm!nication and intelligence to s!b6ert commandand control

Fig!rati6ely and literally, lang!age +olitics +er6ade the str!ggles of women of colo!r&and stories abo!t lang!age ha6e a s+ecial +ower in the rich contem+orary writing by 3Swomen of colo!r For e;am+le, retellings of the stomL of the indigeno!s womanMalinche, mother of the mesd>o bastard race of the new world, master of lang!ages,and mistress of Cortes, carry s+ecial meaning for Chicana constr!ctions of identityCherrie Moraga ().?* in o6ing in the 4ar $ears e;+lores the themes of identitywhen one ne6er +ossessed the original lang!age, ne6er told the original story, ne6erresided in the harmony of legitimate heterose;!ality in the garden of c!lt!re, and socannot base identity on a myth or a fall from innocence and right to nat!ral names,mother s or father s EI Moraga s writing, her s!+erb literacy, is +resented in her +oetryas the same %ind of 6iolation as Malinche s mastery of the con8!eror s lang!age -- a6iolation, an illegitimate +rod!ction, that allows s!r6i6al Moraga s lang!age is notwhole & it is self-conscio!sly s+liced, a chimera of 1nglish and S+anish, bothcon8!eror s lang!ages 7!t it is this chimeric monster, witho!t claim to an originallang!age before

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6iolation, that crafts the erode, com+etent, +otent identities of women of colo!r Sister0!tsider hints at the +ossibility of world s!r6i6al not beca!se of her innocence, b!t beca!se of her ability to li6e on the bo!ndaries, to write witho!t the fo!nding myth oforiginal wholeness, with its inesca+able a+ocaly+se of final ret!rn to a deathly onenessthat Man has imagined to be the innocent and all-+owerf!l Mother, freed at the 1ndfrom another s+iral of a++ro+riation by her son 4riting mar%s Moraga s body, affirmsit as the body of a woman of colo!r, against the +ossibility of +assing into the !nmar%edcategory of the Anglo father or into the orientalist myth of original illiteracy of amother that ne6er was Malinche was mother here, not 16e before eating the forbiddenfr!it 4riting affirms Sister 0!tsider, not the 4oman-before-the-Fall-into-4ritingneeded by the +hallogocentric Family of Man


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4riting is +re-eminently the technology of cyborgs, etched s!rfaces of the late twentiethcent!ry Cyborg +olitics is the str!ggle for lang!age and the str!ggle against +erfectcomm!nication, against the one code that translates all meaning +erfectly, the centraldogma of +hallogocentrism That is why cyborg +olitics insist on noise and ad6ocate

+oll!tion, re9oicing in the illegitimate f!sions of animal and machine These are the

co!+lings which ma%e Man and 4oman so +roblematic, s!b6erting the str!ct!re ofdesire, the force imagined to generate lang!age and gender, and so s!b6erting thestr!ct!re and modes of re+rod!ction of 4estern idendty, of nat!re and c!lt!re, ofmirror and eye, sla6e and master, body and mind 4e did not originally choose to becyborgs, b!t choice gro!nds a liberal +olitics and e+istemology that imagines there+rod!ction of indi6id!als before the wider re+lications of te;ts

From the +ers+ecti6e of cyborgs, freed of the need to gro!nd +olitics in o!r +ri6ileged +osition of the o++ression that incor+orates all other dominations, the innocence of themerely 6iolated, the gro!nd of those closer to nat!re, we can see +owerf!l +ossibilitiesFeminisms and Mar;isms ha6e r!n agro!nd on 4estern e+istemological im+erati6es toconstr!ct a re6ol!tionary s!b9ect from the +ers+ecti6e of a hierarchy of o++ressionsand or a latent +osition of moral s!+eriority, innocence, and greater closeness to nat!re4ith no a6ailable original dream of a common lang!age or original symbiosis

+romising +rotection from hostile masc!line se+aration, b!t written into the +lay of ate;t that has no finally +ri6ileged reading or sal6ation history, to recogni>e oneself asf!lly im+licated in the world, frees !s of the need to root +olitics in identification,6ang!ard +arties, +!rity, and mothering Stri++ed of identity, the bastard race teachesabo!t the +ower of the margins and the im+ortance of a mother li%e Malinche 4omenof colo!r ha6e transformed her from the e6il mother of

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masc!linist fear into the originally literate mother who teaches s!r6i6al

This is not 9!st literary deconstr!ction, b!t liminal transformation 16ery, story that

begins with original innocence and +ri6ileges the ret!rn to wholeness imagines thedrama of life to be indi6id!ation, se+aration, the birth of the self, the tragedy ofa!tonomy, the fall into writing, alienation& that is, war, tem+ered by imaginary res+ite inthe bosom of the 0ther These +lots are r!led by a re+rod!cti6e +olitics --rebirth witho!tflaw, +erfection, abstraction /n this +lot women are imagined either better or worse off,

b!t all agree they ha6e less selflhood, wea%er indi6id!ation, more f!sion to the oral, toMother, less at sta%e in masc!line a!tonomy 7!t there is another ro!te to ha6ing less atsta%e in masc!line a!tonomy, a ro!te that does not +ass thro!gh 4oman, 5rimiti6e,ero, the Mirror Stage and its imaginaw /t +asses thro!gh women and other +resent-tense, illegitimate cyborgs, not of 4oman born, who ref!se the ideological reso!rces of6ictimi>ation so as to ha6e a real life These cyborgs are the +eo+le who ref!se to

disa++ear on c!e, no matter how many dmes a western commentator remar%s on thesad +assing of another +rimiti6e, another organic gro!+ done in by 4estern


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technology, by writing E. These real-life cyborgs for e;am+le, the So!theast Asian6illage women wor%ers inBa+anese and 3S electronics firms described by Aihwa 0ng*are acti6ely rewriting the te;ts of their bodies and sociedes S!mi6al is the sta%es in this

+lay of readings

To reca+it!late, certain d!alisms ha6e been +ersistent in 4estern traditions& they ha6eall been systemic to the logics and +ractices of domination of women, +eo+le of colo!r,nat!re, wor%ers, animals - in short, domination of all constit!ted as others, whose tas% isto mirror the self Chief among these tro!bling d!alisms are self other, mind body,c!lt!re nat!re, male female, ci6ili>ed +rimiti6e, reality a++earance, whole +art,agent reso!rce, ma%er made, acti6e +assi6e, right wrong, tr!th ill!sion, tota +artial,2od man The self is the 0ne who is not dominated, who %nows that by the semice ofthe other, the other is the one who holds the f!t!re, who %nows that by the e;+erience ofdomination, which gi6es the lie to the a!tonomy of the self To be 0ne is to bea!tonomo!s, to be +owerf!l, to be 2od& b!t to be 0ne is to be an ill!sion, and so to bein6ol6ed in a dialectic of a+ocaly+se with the other $et to be other is to be m!lti+le,witho!t clear bo!ndary, frayed, ins!bstantial 0ne is too few, b!t two are too many

High-tech c!lt!re challenges these d!alisms in intrig!ing ways /t is not clear whoma%es and who is made in the relation between h!man and machine /t is not clear whatis mind and what body in machines that resol6e into coding +ractices /n so far as we%now o!rsel6es in both formal disco!rse for e;am+le, biology* and in daily +racticefor e;am+le, the homewor% economy in the integrated circ!it*, we find o!rsel6es to becyborgs, hybrids, mosaics, chimeras 7iological organisms ha6e become biotic systems,com-

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m!nications de6ices li%e others There is no f!ndamental, ontological se+aration in o!rformal %nowledge of machine and organism, of technical and organic The re+licant'achel in the 'idley Scott film 7lade '!nner stands as the image of a cyborg c!lt!re sfear, lo6e, and conf!sion

0ne conse8!ence is that o!r sense of connection to o!r tools is heightened The trancestate e;+erienced by many com+!ter !sers has become a sta+le of science-fiction filmand c!lt!ral 9o%es 5erha+s +ara+legics and other se6erely handica++ed +eo+le can andsometimes do* ha6e the most intense e;+eriences of com+le; hybridi>ation with othercomm!nication de6ices E) Anne McCaffrey s +re-feminist The Shi+ 4ho Sang ()K)*e;+lored the conscio!sness of a cyborg, hybrid of girl s brain and com+le; machinery,formed after the birth of a se6erely handica++ed child 2ender, se;!ality, embodiment,s%ill: all were reconstit!ted in the story 4hy sho!ld o!r bodies end at the s%in, orincl!de at best other beings enca+s!lated by s%in From the se6enteenth cent!ry dll

now, machines co!ld be animated - gi6en ghostly so!ls to ma%e them s+ea% or mo6e orto acco!nt for their orderly de6elo+ment and mental ca+acides 0r organisms co!ld be


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mechan-i>ed - red!ced to body !nderstood as reso!rce of mind These machineorganism relationshi+s are obsolete, !nnecessary For !s, in imagination and in other

+ractice, machines can be +rosthetic de6ices, intimate com+onents, friendly sel6es 4edon t need organic holism to gi6e im+ermeable whole-ness, the total woman and herfeminist 6ariants m!tants * et me concl!de this +oint by a 6ery +artial reading of the

logic of the cyborg monsters of my second gro!+ of te;ts, feminist science fiction

The cyborgs +o+!lating feminist science fiction ma%e 6ery +roblematic the stat!ses ofman or woman, h!man, artefact, member of a race, indi6id!al endty, or body atieing clarifies how +leas!re in reading these fictions is not largely based onidendfication St!dents facingBoanna '!ss for the first time, st!dents who ha6e learnedto ta%e modernist writers li%e Bames Boyce or irginia 4oolf witho!t flinching, do not%now what to ma%e of The Ad6ent!res of Aly; or The Female Man, where charactersref!se the reader s search for innocent wholeness while granting the wish for heroic8!ests, e;!berant eroticism, and serio!s +olitics The Female Man is the story of fo!r6ersions of one genoty+e, all of whom meet, b!t e6en ta%en together do not ma%e awhole, resol6e the dilemmas of 6iolent moral action, or remo6e the growing scandal ofgender The feminist science fiction of Sam!el ' Delany, es+ecially Tales of #e6eyon,moc%s stories of origin by redoing the neolithic re6ol!tion, re+laying the fo!ndingmo6es of 4estern ci6ili>ation to s!b6ert their +la!sibility Bames Ti+tree, Br, an a!thorwhose fiction was regarded as +artic!larly manly !ndl her tr!e gender was re6ealed,tells tales of re+rod!ction based on non-mammalian technologies li%e alternation ofgenerations of male brood +o!ches and male n!rt!ring Bohn arley

(I)

constr!cts a s!+reme cyborg in his arch-feminist e;+loration of 2aea, a mad goddess- +lanet-tric%ster-old woman-technological de6ice on whose s!rface an e;traordinaryarray of +ost-cyborg symbioses are s+awned 0cta6ia 7!tler writes of an Africansorceress +ith!g her +owers of transformation against the genetic mani+!lations of herri6al 4ild Seed*, of dme war+s that bring a modern 3S blac% woman into sla6erywhere her actions in relation to her white master-ancestor determine the +ossibility ofher own birth indred*, and of the illegidmate insights into idendty and comm!nity of

an ado+ted cross-s+ecies child who came to %now the enem as self S!r6i6or* /n Dawn().I*, the first instalment of a series called enogenesis, 7!tler tells the story of ilith/ya+o, whose +ersonal name recalls Adam s first and re+!diated wife and whose familyname mar%s her stat!s as the widow of the son of #igerian immigrants to the 3S A

blac% woman and a mother whose child is dead, ilith mediates the transformation ofh!manity thro!gh genetic e;change with e;tra-terrestriallo6ers resc!ers destroyers genetic engineers, who reform earth s habitats after then!clear holoca!st and coerce s!r6i6ing h!mans into intimate f!sion with them /t is ano6el that interrogates re+rod!cti6e, ling!ishc, and n!clear +olitics in a mythic fieldstr!ct!red by late twentieth-cent!ry race and gender


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7eca!se it is +artic!larly rich in bo!ndary transgressions, onda Mc/n-tyre sS!+erl!minal can close this tr!ncated catalog!e of +romising and dangero!s monsterswho hel+ redefine the +leas!res and +olitics of embodiment and feminist writing /n afiction where no character is sim+ly h!man, h!man stat!s is highly +roblematic 0rca,a genetically altered di6er, can s+ea% with %iller whales and s!r6i6e dee+ ocean

conditions, b!t she longs to e;+lore s+ace as a +ilot, necessitating bionic im+lants 9eo+ardi>ing her %inshi+ with the di6ers and cetaceans Transformations are effected by6ir!s 6ectors carrying a new de6elo+mental code, by trans+lant s!rgery, by im+lants ofmicroelectronic de6ices, by analog!e do!bles, and other means acnea becomes a +ilot

by acce+ting a heart im+lant and a host of other alterations allowing s!r6i6al in transit ats+eeds e;ceeding that of light 'ad! Drac!l s!r6i6es a 6ir!s-ca!sed +lag!e in hiso!terworld +lanet to find himself with a time sense that changes the bo!ndaries ofs+atial +erce+tion for the whole s+ecies All the characters e;+lore the limits oflang!age& the dream of comm!nicating e;+erience& and the necessity of limitation,

+artiality, and indmacy e6en in this world of +rotean transformation and connectionS!+erl!minal stands also for the defining contradictions of a cyborg world in anothersense& it embodies te;t!ally the intersection of feminist theory and colonial disco!rse inthe science fiction / ha6e all!ded to in this cha+ter This is a con9!nction with a longhistory that many First 4orld feminists ha6e tried to re+ress, incl!ding myself in myreadings of S!+erl!minal before being called to acco!nt by oe Sofo!lis,

(.=

whose different location in the world system s informatics of domin-ation made herac!tely alert to the im+erialist moment of all science fiction c!lt!res, incl!ding women sscience fiction From an A!stralian feminist sensiti6ity, Sofo!lis remembered morereadily Mc/ntyre s role as writer of the ad6ent!res of Ca+tain ir% and S+oc% in T sStar Tre% series than her rewriting the romance in S!+erl!minal

Monsters ha6e always defined the limits of comm!nity in 4estern imaginations TheCenta!rs and Ama>ons of ancient 2reece established the limits of the centred +olls ofthe 2ree% male h!man by their disr!+tion of marriage and bo!ndary +oll!tions of thewarrior with animality and woman 3nse+arated twins and herma+hrodites were the

conf!sed h!man material in early modern France who gro!nded disco!rse on the nat!raland s!+ernat!ral, medical and legal, +ortents and diseases -- all cr!cial to establishingmodern identity ?= The e6ol!tionary and beha6io!ral sciences of mon%eys and a+esha6e mar%ed the m!lti+le bo!ndaries of late twentieth-cent!ry ind!strial identitiesCyborg monsters in feminist science fiction define 8!ite different +olitical +ossibilitiesand limits from those +ro+osed by the m!ndane fiction of Man and 4oman

There are se6eral conse8!ences to ta%ing serio!sly the imagery of cyborgs as other thano!r enemies 0!r bodies, o!rsel6es& bodies are ma+s of +ower and identity Cyborgs are

no e;ce+tion A cyborg body is not innocent& it was not born in a garden& it does notsee% !nitary identity and so generate antagonistic d!alisms witho!t end or !ntil the


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world ends*& it ta%es irony for granted 0ne is too few, and two is only one +ossibility/ntense +leas!re in s%ill, machine s%ill, ceases to be a sin, b!t an as+ect of embodimentThe machine is not an it to be animated, worshi++ed, and dominated The machine is !s,o!r +rocesses, an as+ect of o!r embodiment 4e can be res+onsible for machines& theydo not dominate or threaten !s 4e are res+onsible for bo!ndaries& we are they 3+ till

now once !+on a time*, female embodiment seemed to be gi6en, organic, necessary&and female embodiment seemed to mean s%ill in mothering and its meta+horic e;ten-sions 0nly by being o!t of +lace co!ld we ta%e intense +leas!re in machines, and thenwith e;c!ses that this was organic acti6ity after all, a++ro+riate to females Cyborgsmight consider more serio!sly the +artial, fl!id, sometimes as+ect of se; and se;!alembodiment 2ender might not be global identity after all, e6en if it has +rofo!ndhistorical breadth and de+th

The ideologically charged 8!estion of what co!nts as daily acti6ity, as e;+erience, can be a++roached by e;+loiting the cyborg image Feminists ha6e recently claimed thatwomen are gi6en to dailiness, that women more than men somehow s!stain daily life,and so ha6e a +ri6ileged e+istemo-logical +osition +otentially There is a com+ellingas+ect to this claim, one that ma%es 6isible !n6al!ed female acti6ity and names it as thegro!nd of life

(.(

7!t the gro!nd of life 4hat abo!t all the ignorance of women, all the e;cl!sions andfail!res of %nowledge and s%ill 4hat abo!t men s access to daily com+etence, to%nowing how to b!ild things, to ta%e them a+art, to +lay 4hat abo!t otherembodiments Cyborg gender is a local +ossibility ta%ing a global 6engeance 'ace,gender, and ca+ital re8!ire a cyborg theory of wholes and +arts There is no dri6e incyborgs to +rod!ce total theory, b!t there is an intimate e;+erience of bo!ndaries, theirconstr!ction and deconstr!ction There is a myth system waiting to become a +oliticallang!age to gro!nd one way of loo%ing at science and technology and challenging theinformatics of domination-- in order to act +otently

0ne last image organisms and organismic, holistic +olitics de+end on meta+hors ofrebirth and in6ariably call on the reso!rces of re+rod!cti6e se; / wo!ld s!ggest thatcyborgs ha6e more to do with regeneration and are s!s+icio!s of the re+rod!cti6ematri; and of most birthing For salamanders, regeneration after in9!ry, s!ch as the lossof a limb, in6ol6es regrowth of str!ct!re and restoration of f!nction with the constant

+ossibility of twinning or other odd to+ogra+hical +rod!ctions at the site of formerin9!ry The regrown limb can be monstro!s, d!+licated, +otent 4e ha6e all beenin9!red, +rofo!ndly 4e re8!ire regeneration, not rebirth, and the +ossibilities for o!rreconstit!tion incl!de the !to+ian dream of the ho+e for a monstro!s world witho!tgender


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Cyborg imagery can hel+ e;+ress two cr!cial arg!ments in this essay: first, the +rod!ction of !ni6ersal, totali>ing theory is a ma9or mista%e that misses most of reality, +robably always, b!t certainly now& and second, ta%ing res+onsibility for the socialrelations of science and technology means ref!sing an anti-science meta+hysics, ademonology of technology, and so means embracing the s%ilf!l tas% of reconstr!cting

the bo!ndaries of daily life, in +artial connection with others, in comm!nication with allof o!r +arts /t is not 9!st that science and technology are +ossible means of great h!mansatisfaction, as well as a matri; of com+le; dominations Cyborg imagery can s!ggest away o!t of the ma>e of d!alisms in which we ha6e e;+lained o!r bodies and o!r tools too!rsel6es This is a dream not of a common lang!age, b!t of a +owerf!l infidelheteroglossia /t is an imagination of a feminist s+ea%ing in tong!es to stri%e fear intothe circ!its of the s!+ersa6ers of the new right /t means both b!ilding and destroyingmachines, identities, categories, relationshi+s, s+ace stories Tho!gh both are bo!nd inthe s+iral dance, / wo!ld rather be a cyborg than a goddess

Documents

Cyborg Donna Haraway, A Cyborg Manifesto Science, Technology, And Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century,