OAR@UM Collection:https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/269272024-03-28T19:14:58Z2024-03-28T19:14:58ZThe utopianism of human enhancement : impacting our present through images of the futureBranford, Jasonhttps://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/203532018-03-01T14:29:22Z2017-05-01T00:00:00ZTitle: The utopianism of human enhancement : impacting our present through images of the future
Authors: Branford, Jason
Abstract: This paper explores the idea that the desirability of human enhancement stems from the utopianism of human existence and argues that the “human enhancement movement” (HEM) should be understood as a utopian pursuit that impacts both the individual and society in distinct ways. Here, it is argued that the utopian character of HEM is not faithfully realised if it fails to improve life in both the individual and social sense. In particular, it is here highlighted that utopia entails a certain ‘perpetuality’ in both instances, defined as a ‘persistent utopia’ by Miguel Abensour. This illustrates the enduring value of utopian thinking within the discussion on human enhancement. Through this, it is argued, we are able to both appreciate the desirability of HEM and then reconstitute and re-articulate the kind of change sought through HEM as inextricably social and socially-advancing. In so doing, HEM accommodates and supports (or should be understood as doing so) the continuous push for progress, or “betterment”, thereby shedding light on the inadequacies of human society. Moreover, it is postulated that HEM aims to develop both individuals and society writ large through a reciprocal and interminable cycle of influence which should be acknowledged and nurtured. The conclusion is that images of an enhanced human future instilled through HEM—undoubtedly utopian images—can have a direct and positive, policy shaping impact on the progression of human societies and its institutions. This focus should reshape the debate on enhancement.2017-05-01T00:00:00ZUncivilising the future : imagining non-speciesismWesterlaken, Michellehttps://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/203522018-03-01T14:29:38Z2017-05-01T00:00:00ZTitle: Uncivilising the future : imagining non-speciesism
Authors: Westerlaken, Michelle
Abstract: We live in a world where animals are killed and abused in numbers that are entirely beyond comprehension. This killing is ubiquitous and omnipresent, and yet largely invisible to most people. Once we come to the realisation that the normalisation of animal oppression is something that we oppose, envisioning futures that abandon “speciesism” requires an almost unimaginable rethinking of our current society. Yet, resistance and alternative practices do exist. These forces consist of alternative opinions, attitudes, practices, senses, meanings, and values which are not considered to be the norm; however, these can somehow still be accommodated and tolerated within a particularly effective and dominant culture. In this modest approach towards non-speciesist utopias that invites serious moral consideration of animals as the most marginalised beings of all, I aim to bring those under-emphasised, hidden, and alternative perspectives to light in order to make them more valid and more real as practices that counter hegemony. By paying attention to existing philosophies, personal experiences, emotional accounts, and shared thoughts, this text highlights alternatives and possibilities for artists (or others) to imagine and shape futures that are utopian—not just for humans, but for animals as well.2017-05-01T00:00:00ZAbout our contributors [Antae Journal, 4(1)]https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/203512018-03-01T14:30:03Z2017-05-01T00:00:00ZTitle: About our contributors [Antae Journal, 4(1)]
Abstract: Short biographies of the contributors in this issue.2017-05-01T00:00:00ZUtopia in adversity : at the borders of the European projectAbdilla, Raylenehttps://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/203502018-03-01T14:30:25Z2017-05-01T00:00:00ZTitle: Utopia in adversity : at the borders of the European project
Authors: Abdilla, Raylene
Abstract: The European Union (EU) was envisaged as a bureaucratic cosmopolitan utopia aiming at restoring peace and economic prosperity between European peoples in the aftermath of the Second World War. The aim of this paper is to critically engage with the current institutional framework and political developments of the EU and its Member States and to offer a utopian counter-discourse to the current rise of right-wing populist discourses pervading EU politics. In order to achieve this, in the first part of the paper I will delve into what I mean by “utopia” following James D. Ingram’s and Chantal Mouffe’s work. In particular, my contention will be that utopian politics is an open-ended struggle which demands that the realm of politics facilitates contestations between “adversaries” in a democratic context. Furthermore, I will posit that where political institutions fail to bring about just and democratic processes, the people have the right and responsibility to demand change through civil mobilisation and alternative ways of resistance, through what Bonnie Honig calls an agonistic cosmopolitcs. The second part of this essay tackles two case studies of the political reactions of Greece and the UK in the face of the current hegemonic and technocratic character of the EU. The third part then deals with the cosmopolitan traces (or lack thereof) which are inherent in the EU institutional frameworks in lieu of the development of the unprecedented immigration crisis. Finally, I conclude by giving insights on how the EU needs to develop into an agonistic cosmopolitan polity.2017-05-01T00:00:00Z