The Persistence of Complexity: Re-reading Donna Haraway's Cyborg Manifesto

Author(s): Matthew Gandy

Source: AA Files, No. 60 (2010), pp. 42-44
Published by: Architectural Association School of Architecture
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The Persistence of
Complexity

Re-reading Donna Haraway's Cyborg Manifesto

Matthew Gandy

A cyborgis a cybnerneticorganism,
a hybridofmachine and organism,
a creatureofsocial reality
as well as a creatureoffiction.
Donna Haraway1

'DrHaraway',
a police
forensic
scientist
inMamoruOshii's
GhostintheShell
2:Innocence
GKodansha/Dreamworks

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DonnaHaraway, professor andchairoftheHistory Thecyborg manifesto notonlyexposedthe irony canplaya didactic roleinthepublicarena,
ofConsciousness Programme attheUniversity of limitations offeminist thought inrelation tosci- as a strategy forcreative disruption. Rorty, bycon-
California, SantaCruz,isoneofthemostinfluen- enceandtechnology butevenquestioned therole trast, insists thatirony resides within theprivate
tialcultural commentators ofthelastßoyears. ofgender as a coherent basisforcollective politi- realmoftheimagination andhaslittle practical
Among hermany insights, ranging from primatol- calaction.Haraway combined herexploration of utility. Theplayful, andattimeserotic, toneof
ogytoimmunology, itisperhaps her'Cyborg theroleoftechnologies as potentially liberating Haraway's essayalsomarks a significant contrast
Manifesto' thathasresonated mostwidely across dimensions tohumanexperience witha wide- withmoresoberwritings onsimilar themes
a panoply ofdifferent fields including cinemaand rangingcritique ofassumedpolitical collectivitiesappearing atthetime:the'replicative baroque'
popular culture. Haraway's cyborg essayisoneof andtheir associated essentialist ormetaphysical ofcyborg sexuality isplayed offagainstthelimita-
thoserareinstances where a pieceofwriting both underpinnings. Inprescient fashion Haraway tionsorrestrictions ofexisting theory.9
reflectsandultimately shapesthemomentum focuses ontwoaspectsoftechnological changein Itisironic, however, thatHaraway's own
ofa criticalareaofthought. Haraway herself has particular: first, thedevelopment of'electronics' doctoral research inthehistory ofsciencerested
becomea focusofintrigue within thisemerging andthegrowing power of'circuitry' forthe onthelargesse ofnasa (ata timewhenmore
intellectual dramawithherpersona evenadopted exchange ofinformation; andsecond,theimplica- exploratoryclearly or non-military types ofre-
as ananimecharacter inthesequeltoMamoru tionsofgenetic engineering, including thedeci- search were supported) yet her own development
Oshii'sGhost intheShell(1995),setinaneerie phering ofalllifeas 'code',sothattheproduction ofthecyborg concept wasnota direct response to
future urbanlandscapepopulated bya mixof oflifeenters a new phase that renders existing the earlier NASA-Supported research of Manfred
humans, androids andcyborgs. gender relations largely obsolete. 'Thereisnoth- E Clynes andNathan S Kline, whoseworkshewas
Writing fiveyearsafter thepublication of ing about being "female" that naturally binds not aware of until after her essaywaspublished. In
hermanifesto, Haraway notes how the essay had she
women', writes, 'There is not even such a state for
i960, example, Clynes and Kline had used the
by1990already acquired a 'surprising halflife', as "being" female, itself a highly complex category term cyborg torefer toa technologically enhanced
sothatithadbecomeeffectively impossible to constructed in contested sexual scientific dis- human of
bodycapable spaceexploration, com-
rewrite. writes 'will courses and other practices'. 6 paring an astronaut with an intelligent that
fish
'Cyborg's daughter', Haraway,
havetofinditsownmatrix inanother essay, start- Science and technology take centre stage in had the
acquired necessary technical apparatus
ingfrom theproposition thattheimmune system Haraway's reassessment ofthehumansubjectas a tomovefrom water toland:thenasa cyborg was
isthebiotechnical body's chief system of differ- contributory element in the fracturing ofmodern a human bodyaugmented in readiness forinhos-
encesinlatecapitalism, where feminists might consciousness as wellas a potentially liberating pitableenvironments.10 Haraway's cyborg marks
findprovocative extraterrestrial of the net- set of The
possibilities. technological monsters an ironic extension - an unexpected theoretical
maps
arenotdetermined bysci- - tothisearlier 'aeronautical' phaseof
works ofembodied powermarked byrace,sexand thatstalkmodernity prosthesis
class'.3In2010,25yearsafter themanifesto was enceitself - anymorethanthey canbeascribed a cyborg theory that remained rooted ina rudimen-
firstpublished, wefindthatitsimpact hashardly teleological dynamic oftheir own- butaresimply tary conception oftherelationship between the
diminished. Haraway's initial sense of the essay's projections of human interests. Echoing the body, society and technology.
'halflife*registers nowas ironic understatement.Frankfurt School- butshornoftheir innate ForHaraway, thecyborg isbotha material
Thefirst version ofHaraway's cyborg essay was pessimism - Haraway reframes the question artefact and a powerful metaphor through which
completed in October 1983 and published in 1984 of technology as a matter of interpretation and to explore corporeality, technology and the human
intheWestBerlin-based journalArgument* Its democratic control: thepositive possibilities of subject. Herconcept ofthecyborg remains closer
'LieberKyborg
title, alsGöttin' ('Rather Cyborg enlightened technological changearesimply too totheandrogynous bodycollagesofthemodernist
thanGoddess')- takenfrom thefinalsentence of greattobeignored, andifwe'reambivalent werisk avant-garde thanmany ofthemorerecent and
theoriginal manuscript - reveals Haraway's inten- beingmarginalised intheshaping ofthefuture. often literal inscriptions ofthecyborg figure as
tiontotakeissuewithessentialist, anti-technolog- Adistinctive feature ofHaraway's essayisthe a symbol ofthe'superhuman' thatwemight
icalandanti-modern strands offeminist thought. extensive deployment ofirony inordertochal- encounter inliterature orcinema.Intheintroduc-
Theessayemerged inthecontext ofa perceived lengevarious forms ofpolitical andtheoretical tiontohercollection ofessaysSimians, Cyborgs
disjuncture inthe1980sbetween thegathering orthodoxy. Inthissenseheranalytical method is andWomen ,published in1991,Haraway elabo-
momentum oftechnological changeinfields such herwriting; intheplaceoftesttubeswehavesen- ratesonheroriginal definition ofthecyborg:
as micro-circuitiy, robotics andgenetic engineer- tences, andas readers webecomeactivepartici- Acyborg isa hybrid creature, composed oforgan-
ing,andthelimited theoretical andpolitical pantsinherexperiment: ismandmachine. Butcyborgs arecompounded of
response offeminism. Haraway recallsthatshe Irony isaboutcontradictions thatdonotresolve specialkinds ofmachines andspecialkinds oforgan-
hadfirst usedtheterm'cyborg' attheinterna- intolarger wholes, evendialectically ,abouttheten- ismsappropriate tothelatetwentieth century.
tionalsocialist conference inCavtat, intheformer sionofholding incompatible things together because are
Cyborgs post-Second World Warhybrid entities
Yugoslavia, where she also met one ofthe editors both are necessary and true. Irony is about humour made of,first, ourselves and other organic creatures
ofArgument, Frigga Haug,a leadingfigure inthe andserious play.Itisalsoa rhetorical strategy and inourunchosen 'high- technological' guiseas infor-
WestGerman Marxist feminist scene.Haug a politicalmethod ,one I would like to see honoured mation systems, and
texts, economically controlled
encouraged her to her
publish essay part as of a within socialist-feminism. At the centre ofmy ironic labouring, and
desiring, reproducing systems. The
special issue of the journal devoted tothe theme faith,myblasphemy, image isthe the
of cyborg.7 second essential in
ingredientcyborgs ismachines
ofGeorge Orwell's 1984.Itwasnotuntilthefollow- Tosuggest thatHaraway's essayisliterary or intheir guiseas communications systems, textsand
ingyear that an extensively revised and elaborated experimental isnot to diminish its intellectual self-acting, economically designed apparatuses .11
English version oftheessay,nowre-titled 'A seriousness buttoemphasise thattheunder- Thisexpanded definition reminds usthatthe
Manifesto forCyborgs: Science, Technology and of
standing metaphors is central to scientific dis- idea of the is a
cyborg historically situated as well
Socialist Feminism inthe1980s',appearedinthe course.Writing aroundthesametimeas Haraway, as technically produced phenomenon. spe- The
Socialist Review. Butitspublication hadmetwith thephilosopher Richard Rorty approaches the cificcontext ofHaraway's cyborg manifesto - the
determined resistance from partsofthejournal's importance ofirony from a similar angle,defining extended reachofthemilitary-industrial complex
editorial collective whoviewed Haraway's argu- itas 'thepower of redescription'.8 Where Haraway and the associated rise of neo-liberalism inthe
mentsas 'reactionary orworse'.5 differsfrom Rorty, however, isinhersensethat 1980s- reveals thecentrality ofthecyborg

AAFILES60 43

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metaphor topolitical discourse. Haraway high- contexts inwhichknowledge isactually created. Thecyborg figure alsodisplacesdichotomous
lightstwopossibilities fora 'cyborg world': a first Thesearguments parallel theefforts ofphiloso- ideasofnature andculture withgraduated 'fields
scenario basedona militaristic orgy ofdestruc- pherssuchas RoyBhaskar andAndrew Feenberg ofdifference'.19 Intandem withlatemodernity,
tion;anda second,emergingthrough a 'joint todevelop newkindsofinsights thatcantake forexample, therelationship between nature and
kinship withanimalsandmachines'.12 LikeJG greater accountofdevelopments inthebio-physi- humansocieties isundergoing successive refor-
Ballard,thewriting ofHaraway narrows thehori- calsciencesandavoidthepitfalls ofbothpositivist mulations inarenasrangingfrom theepidemiol-
zonbetween thereinterpretation ofthepresent andrelativist modesofanalysis. Bhaskar's 'critical ogyofdiseasetotheecological restructuring of
andthecreative impulse ofsciencefiction. realism',forexample, displacesmechanistic mod- urbanspace.Whatconnects thesedifferences is
TheworkofHaraway forms partofanemerg- elsofcausality witha farmoreheterogeneous and thepresence ofnetworked interactions between
ingpost-Heideggerian critique oftechnology in uncertain landscapeinwhichtherelationships sentient andnon-sentient elements sothat
the1980sthatprovided a bridge between Marxian between scienceandpolitics aremadeexplicit.15 processes cannotbereduced toa fewsimple
politicaleconomy, feminist epistemologies ofsci- Similarly, Haraway's 'standpoint epistemology', mechanisms butinvolve a myriad ofintersections
enceandpost-structuralism. Haraway seeks to influenced by feminist philosophers such as operating across different spatial scales.
challenge an'anti-science metaphysics' thatfails SandraHarding, seekstoestablish a moresocially Inthissense,thecyborg manifesto hasits
toacknowledge 'howscienceandtechnology are andpolitically grounded understanding of human own spatiality spanning the intellectual milieus
possible means for great human satisfaction, as agency.16The idea of the cyborg as a refusal of ofSanta Cruz,Cavtat, West Berlin and the Boston
wellas a matrix ofcomplex dominations'. Inthis epistemological simplicity also holds a degree of editorial collective for Socialist Review. The
senseHaraway allowstheideaoftechnology as a theoreticalcommonality withthe'quasi-objects' cyborg sharesanaffinity withrelated concepts
meansforbodily andcreative liberation toencom- ofMichelSerres (a term laterelaborated by Bruno such as 'cyberspace', 'cybernetics' and'cyber-
passa political agendathatextends acrossa range Latour) andthe'assemblages' ofGillesDeleuze punk'yetthecontemporary useoftheterm
offields,from feminism toanti-racism, thatwere andFélixGuattari, yetHaraway's materialist 'cyborg' is different from these virtual,analytical
eitherignored orrejected intheearlier ColdWar cyborg cannotbeeasilysubsumed within the andfictional constructs inthatitisgrounded in
versions ofcyborg discourse.13 Italsosetsher firmament ofpost-structuralist thought. the and
living breathing flesh ofthe human body.
intellectualproject atvariance witheco-feminism Haraway's insistence ontheblurring orevis- Whilst the'cyber-' metaphor tendstobeassoci-
andthewelter of'truth innature' discourses that ceration ofboundaries introduces a spatial atedwithvarious forms ofvirtuality, theideaof
havepermeated environmental politics. dimension tocyborg discourse. The distinctions the is
cyborgclosely linked to thecorporeal expe-
Haraway depicts cyborg politicsas 'thestrug- between 'public'and'private', forexample, begin rienceofspace.20 Consequently, thecyborg canbe
gleforlanguage andthestruggle againstperfect tolosetheir analytical 'Ifitwereeverpossi- readas analternative
utility. wayofconceptualising late
communication' sothat'cyborg politicsinsiston bleideologically tocharacterise women's livesby modernity thatserves todestabilise thepervasive
noiseandadvocate pollution, rejoicingintheille- thedistinction ofpublicandprivate domains,' narratives ofdematerialisation, spatialmalleabil-
gitimate fusions ofanimalandmachine', thereby shewrites, 'itisnowa totally misleading ideology, ityandvirtualisation. Morerecently, however, the
challenging a wholearray ofdualisms running eventoshowhowbothterms ofthesedichotomies underlying materiality ofthecyborg metaphor
through western philosophical andpolitical tradi- construct eachotherinpractice andintheory'.1? hasacquiredheightened significance nowthat
tions.1*
The'noise'thatHaraway refers tocanbe Heremphasis onthecyborg as a 'boundary figure' theearlier polarity between virtualspaceand
interpreted as thedegree towhichthefullcom- recasts spaceandits'idealisedsociallocations' 'meatspace'articulated inthefirst waveofcyber
plexityofsocialreality exceedsthegraspofany as a technological andinstitutional matrix thatis culture islosingitsconceptual utilityandnow
singletheoretical framework. Butindeveloping bothmalleable andopentonewforms ofexperi- thatthevery ideaof'virtual reality'isitself
hercritique ofuniversalist modesofanalysis enceorinterpretation.18 Acyborg interpretation imploding as itbecomeseither relocated inthe
Haraway doesnotadvocate a form ofrelativism: ofspaceisonethatrecognises thefragility ofrela- context ofa heightened dimension ofthereal,
sheiscareful todifferentiate between theontolog- tionsbetween thebodyandtechnology ranging as suggested bySlavojŽižek, orsimply derided
icalcharacteristics ofmaterial bodiesortechno- from small-scale medicalinterventions tolarge- byElizabeth Groszandothers as aninherently
logicalartefacts andthesocialandhistorical scaleinfrastructure networks. oxymoronic formulation.21

1. Donna Haraway, 'ACyborg Manifesto: editorial

collective:
Sandra Jaspar, Gray The
(ed), Cyborg Handbook ACritical
Reality: Introduction to
Science,Technology andSocialist- Re/Productions:
'Cyborg Encountering (London: Routledge, 1995),
pp29-33. ContemporaryPhilosophy(London:
Feminism inthelate Twentieth Centuiy' DasArgument inWest Berlin',
paperpre- Theessaywasoriginally inthe
published Verso,
1989).
inSimians, Cyborgs andWomen: The sented
totheResearch Conversations journal AstronauticsinSeptember i960. 16.Donna Haraway,opcit,p170.
ReinventionofNature (London: Free seminar Bartlett
series, School
ofArchi- SeealsoKlaus Bartels,
Cyborgs, 17.Ibid.
AssociationBooks, 1991), p149. 1use tecture,
UniversityCollegeLondon, Avatare:
Servonen, Über semiotische 18.Ibid.
thisversionofthe essay,published some I9januaiy20i0. International
Prosthetik, Flusser
Lecture 19.Ibid, p162.
sixyearsafterthefirstversion,asthe 5. DonnaHaraway, personal communica- (Cologne: Waither König,2005). 20.SeeMatthew Gandy, 'Cyborg
definitive
textforthis Allpage
essay. ref- tion
withtheauthor (27September 11. Donna Haraway, Simians, and
Cyborgs Urbanisation:
Complexity and
erencesrefer tothisversion. For
2006). greaterdetailonthegeneal- Women, pl. inthe
Monstrosity Contemporary City',
2. Acharacter named DrHaraway, ogyandimpact ofthe'cyborgmanifesto'12.Donna Haraway, 'ACyborg Manifesto', International JournalofUrban and
apoliceforensic specialist,
appears seeZoéSofoulis,
'Cyberquake: P154. Research
Regional 29(2005), pp26-49.
intheGhost inthe Shell2:Innocence Haraway'sManifesto',inDarren
Tofts, 13.Ibid,p181. SeealsoNina Lykkeand 21. SeeSlavoj
žižek,'From Virtual to
Reality
(2004),directedbyMamoru Oshii. AnnemarieJonson andAlessio RosiBraidotti Between
(eds), Monsters, the Virtualisation inNeil
ofReality',
3. Donna Haraway, preface to'AManifesto Cavallaro (eds),
Prefiguring
Суberculture: Goddesses andCyborgs: Feminist
Con- Leach(ed),
DesigningforaDigitalWorld
forCyborgs: Science,Technology and AnIntellectual
History ma:
(Cambridge, frontationswithScience,Medicine
and (Chichester:
Wiley-Academy, 2002),
Socialist
Feminism inthe1980s', in mitPress,2002),pp84-103. Cyberspace{London: ZedBooks, 1996). pp122-26 andElizabeth Grosz,
LindaNicholson (ed), 6. DonnaHaraway, 'ACyborg Manifesto', SeealsoDonna Haraway, 'Cyborgsand Architecture
from theOutside:
Essays on
Feminism/Postmodernism (London: Pi55- Symbionts: LivingTogetherintheNew Virtual
andRealSpace (Cambridge, ma:
Routledge, 1990),p190. 7. Ibid,
P149. World Order',inChris HablesGray(ed), mitPress,2001).Inthe earlierphase
4. Donna Haraway, 'LieberKyborg alsGöt- 8. Richard Rorty,Contingency, and
Irony TheCyborgHandbook (London:Rout- ofthedigital
revolutionhuman con-
tin!
Für eine sozialistich-feministiche Solidarity
(Cambridge: Cambridge ledge,1995),pXIX. sciousness
waswidely perceived as
Unterwanderung derGentechnologie', University Press,
1989), p89. 14.Donna Haraway, opcit,p176. caughtbetweenwhat William Gibson
Argument-Sonderband 105,pp66-84. 9. DonnaHaraway, opcit,p150. for
15.See, example, RoyBhaskar,ARealist referred
toasthe'meat space' ofthe
Iamalsoindebted toSandra Jasper 10.Manfred EClynes andNathan SKline, TheoryofScience(London: Verso,
1997 bodyandthe disembodied subjectivity
forherresearch onArgument andits andSpace',
'Cyborgs inChrisHables andRoy
[1975]) Bhaskar,Reclaiming ofthe orvirtual
digital realm.

44 AAFILES60

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