In this seminar I want to reflect on my work of the last decade, or so, on the relation between the social and the technical (or rather the sociomaterial as some might say)—which is currently a book project in the making. I want to suggest that what is needed to figure this relation is an ontology of becoming beyond bifurcation (Whitehead), in contrast to the dominant anthropocentric bifurcated being ontology. I what to do this by elaborating two strands of thought—that is to say, two different ways of thinking about becoming . The first is the idea of extension. This is the idea that agency is extended through material enactments (in the Latourian tradition). In doing this I want to take particular note of the notion of performativity (and plagiaristic practices). The second strand of thought is the idea of retention. I want to do this by considering the idea of appropriation (drawing on Whitehead and Barad) as well as on Bergson’s idea of virtuality. I want to try and elaborate why these ideas—as an ontology of becoming—are important in developing a very different understanding of our relation with materiality. As the work is still in the making I will not ‘present’ it as such but rather elaborate some of its contours—to open up, perhaps, a different space for thinking about sociomateriality.
For any further queries regarding this seminar or to request information about future events please contact Imran Iqbal, Research Coordinator.
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