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Unreal objects: digital materialities, technoscientific projects and political realities

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posted on 2023-06-09, 07:48 authored by Kate O'RiordanKate O'Riordan
Science and technology are playing increasingly important roles in our lives. New projects in development today will fundamentally shape the world around us, and manipulate our lived experience. But how and why are such important scientific and technological projects chosen, and what are the consequences of this process? In this book, Kate O’Riordan answers these crucial question. She discovers that many objects, such as genomes and genomic projects, smart grids, de-extinction projects and biosensors cannot be granted scientific legitimacy and developed without extraordinary amounts of media, public relations, celebrity endorsements and private investment. As a result of these filters, only certain projects take centre stage when it comes to funding and political attention. O’Riordan calls these ‘unreal objects’ - scientific projects and technologies where utopian visions for the future are combined with investment and materialisation in the here and now. This attention to these unreal objects hides many current social issues, especially injustices and inequalities. At the same time they conjure utopian visions for how life might be improved.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Publisher

Pluto Press

Pages

192.0

Place of publication

London

ISBN

9780745336787

Series

Digital Barricades

Department affiliated with

  • Media and Film Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2017-09-06

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