I Would Rather be a God/dess than a Cyborg: A Pagan Encounter with Donna Haraway

Van Dooren, T

I Would Rather be a God/dess than a Cyborg: A Pagan Encounter with Donna Haraway

Van Dooren, T

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Publisher:: Equinox Journals
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies, 2005, 7 (1), pp. 42 - 58
Issue Date:: 2005-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Van Dooren, T	en_US
dc.date.issued	2005-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies, 2005, 7 (1), pp. 42 - 58	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	1528-0268	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/10669
dc.description.abstract	Through a close textual analysis of relevant sections of Donna Haraways 1985 paper, `A Cyborg Manifesto, and with specific reference to her closing remark in that article, I explore the compatibility of Haraways work with a Pagan political philosophy. After a general introduction to what I take to be the key concepts for a Pagan politics in Haraways work, I offer a brief outline of her use of the figure of the `cyborg. With this background established, I begin my consider¬ation of the final line of `A Cyborg Manifesto, which reads: `Though both are bound in the spiral dance, I would rather be a cyborg than a goddess. Through my unpacking of this comment I offer an explanation of the type of position that Haraway is attempting to adopt, a position that takes into account both the unique opportunities that we are offered, and the risks that we are exposed to, by technologies in the modern world. Equipped with this understanding of Haraways position, we are able more clearly to see her critical perspective on Paganism (which I argue is part of what is represented by the `goddess figure in the above quote). I then offer a re-reading of this goddess figure in light of the political and philosophical reality of contemporary Paganisms engagement with the technological, and argue that the cyborg and the goddess should be understood as kin, not as adversaries. Finally, I present what I take to be the most important challenge that Haraways paper offers to contemporary Paganism, namely the challenge to think carefully about powerful dualismslike those between `nature and `culture and between the `organic and the `techno¬logicaland to ask ourselves about the roles that they might play in our Paganism and our politics more generally.	en_US
dc.publisher	Equinox Journals	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies	en_US
dc.title	I Would Rather be a God/dess than a Cyborg: A Pagan Encounter with Donna Haraway	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	1	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	7	en_US
utslib.for	220405 Religion and Society	en_US
utslib.for	220406 Studies in Eastern Religious Traditions	en_US
utslib.for	16 Studies in Human Society	en_US
utslib.for	22 Philosophy and Religious Studies	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/e-Press
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences/Education Group
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.consider-herdc	false	en_US
pubs.issue	1	en_US
pubs.volume	7	en_US

Abstract:

Through a close textual analysis of relevant sections of Donna Haraways 1985 paper, `A Cyborg Manifesto, and with specific reference to her closing remark in that article, I explore the compatibility of Haraways work with a Pagan political philosophy. After a general introduction to what I take to be the key concepts for a Pagan politics in Haraways work, I offer a brief outline of her use of the figure of the `cyborg. With this background established, I begin my consider¬ation of the final line of `A Cyborg Manifesto, which reads: `Though both are bound in the spiral dance, I would rather be a cyborg than a goddess. Through my unpacking of this comment I offer an explanation of the type of position that Haraway is attempting to adopt, a position that takes into account both the unique opportunities that we are offered, and the risks that we are exposed to, by technologies in the modern world. Equipped with this understanding of Haraways position, we are able more clearly to see her critical perspective on Paganism (which I argue is part of what is represented by the `goddess figure in the above quote). I then offer a re-reading of this goddess figure in light of the political and philosophical reality of contemporary Paganisms engagement with the technological, and argue that the cyborg and the goddess should be understood as kin, not as adversaries. Finally, I present what I take to be the most important challenge that Haraways paper offers to contemporary Paganism, namely the challenge to think carefully about powerful dualismslike those between `nature and `culture and between the `organic and the `techno¬logicaland to ask ourselves about the roles that they might play in our Paganism and our politics more generally.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/10669