Afrofuturism and Cyborg Feminism, a Discussion with Steven Shaviro

"Ancient to the Future: Afrofuturism, Cyborgs, and the Posthuman"

ASU’s Center for Science and the Imagination and the Institute for Humanities Research invite you to a lecture with film critic and philosopher Steven Shaviro.

In this talk, philosopher and cultural critic Steven Shaviro will discuss Afrofuturism and cyborg feminism. Whether in the novels of Octavia Butler and N. K. Jemisin, or in the music of Sun Ra, Drexciya and Janelle Monae, Afrofuturism works to criticize mainstream visions of the future, and to create an alternative speculative vision that is viable for black people and other people of color. Similarly, robots, androids and cyborgs have been central figures in Western visions of the future, and they have often been depicted as feminine objects of both desire and dread. Cyborg feminism, spurred by Donna Haraway's "Cyborg Manifesto," seeks to reclaim the image of the cyborg as one of empowerment. 

Shaviro will explore these alternative visions through a number of recent music videos in which women artists, both black and white, explore cyborg and Afrofuturist themes.