Beyond the Cyborg

In chapters that stand out for their admirable lucidity of thought and language, Grebowicz and Merrick retrace major dimensions of Haraway's thought and provide impressively detailed descriptions and comparisons of her arguments with those of such thinkers as Sandra Harding, Jacques Derrida, Chantal Mouffe, and Jean-Francois Lyotard. The overall result is a carefully elaborated, clear outline of Haraway's work from which scholars and students in many disciplines will learn immensely. -- Ursula K. Heise, University of California, Los Angeles A significant contribution to the field, this book's greatest strength is in its reading of science fiction and Haraway's work in relation to science fiction, and the wonderful essay by Haraway herself. -- Lorraine Code, York University Combining passion and great precision, Margret Grebowicz and Helen Merrick demonstrate the ongoing vitality of Donna Haraway's ideas for various emerging interdisciplinary fields, including animal studies, biopolitics, and science and technology studies, carefully noting how a 'multispecies socialist feminism' informs-or should inform-all of these. A detailed and indispensable map of the complex terrain of Haraway's work. -- Dominic Pettman, author of Human Error: Species-Being and Media Machines We are invited into a series of transdisciplinary stories that multiply enfold three decades and more of multispecies curiosity. Disciplinary homes turn out to have dog-beaches at their edge, and we get to walk and play among natures, knowledges, politics, ethics, and stories. When Haraway comes along and hands us all carrying bags for mutter, manure, and matter-ing, demonstrations and practices for hardy and soiled wisdoms become feminist acts of alertness without pretensions to innocence. -- Katie King, author of Networked Reenactments

This long-overdue volume explores Donna Haraway's influence on feminist theory and philosophy, paying particular attention to her more recent work on companion species, rather than her “Manifesto for Cyborgs.”Feminist theorist and philosopher Donna Haraway has substantially impacted thought on science, cyberculture, the environment, animals, and social relations. This long-overdue volume explores her influence on feminist theory and philosophy, paying particular attention to her more recent work on companion species, rather than her "Manifesto for Cyborgs." Margret Grebowicz and Helen Merrick argue that the ongoing fascination with, and re-production of, the cyborg has overshadowed Haraway's extensive body of work in ways that run counter to her own transdisciplinary practices. Sparked by their own personal "adventures" with Haraway's work, the authors offer readings of her texts framed by a series of theoretical and political perspectives: feminist materialism, standpoint epistemology, radical democratic theory, queer theory, and even science fiction. They situate Haraway's critical storytelling and "risky reading" practices as forms of feminist methodology and recognize her passionate engagement with "naturecultures" as the theoretical core driving her work. Chapters situate Haraway as critic, theorist, biologist, feminist, historian, and humorist, exploring the full range of her identities and reflecting her commitment to embodying all of these modes simultaneously.