Practice Abstract #1

1) summary
The "Die Mensch-Maschine" intro by Bridges is the introduction to a study which attempts to explore the territories of gender-related and technological binaries and where they "interface and diverge" with specific references to German social and historical influences. Bridges quotes Haraway's "Cyborg Manifesto" extensively and bases much of the study off of Haraway's statements regarding the reproductive and imaginative boundaries as well as the social constructs of gender and technology. Both women use the social context of Nazi Socialism to exemplify their points.

2) terms

• technocratic policy - brings all citizens, technologies, and institutions into step to advance the state's goals.
• biological essentialism - I'm guessing this refers to what material is essential to consider something or someone a body
• eugenics - "The study of hereditary improvement of the human race by controlled selective breeding." (dictionary.com)
• Aura - the quality of a body or object that makes it the original, the living essence of something to separate it from its copies
• Border Wars - the discursive struggle to dismantle established and assumed binaries in an effort to redefine the boundaries of male/female, robot/human, technology/culture, etc.

3) questions

• How is the machine as a model for the perfect body good for humans? How is it bad?
• Are principles that were used by the Nazi regime (soldiers as mechanized cyborgs, etc.) still in use today by other nations/regimes?
• Is the Holocaust the only reason for the rest of the worlds' association of technology with German history and culture? Do other nations have experiences with technology which define their identities? What are some of these?
• Can technology positively influence the history and identity as well as the culture of a nation? I'm thinking about Japan maybe.

Pretty interesting article so far. I'd like to read more into how the Germans themselves are dealing culturally with their seemingly ubiquitous technological history. Are they shamed? Are they trying to fix things? Do they even think about it much anymore? Does the anti-Semitism of the 30s and 40s have some after effects like the racism of our country's past does?