Abstract
This chapter provides a review of relevant literature around social movement theory, an array of internal/external accounts of the transhumanist movement and other eclectic material relevant to the study. It reviews work addressing the incidence of optimistic/utopian motivation-systems surrounding science and technology—including the notion of science as a social movement. The chapter reveals the novel standing of transhumanism, which has both normatively laden and trans-locational quality, having circulated over a diffuse global area in recent years, made possible through the technologies of information and communication which have emerged over the last three decades or so. As such, it concludes that effective study of the inceptive social forms associated with the transhumanist movement requires development of a dynamic research strategy which moves to adequately capture the nuances of cultural meanings, objects and identities as they travel across time and space.
“You know the scene. Social structures the world over are melting down and mutating […] The emperor of Technoscience has achieved dominion, though his clothes are growing more threadbare by the moment, the once noble costume of Progress barely concealing far more wayward ambitions.”
Erik Davis, Techgnosis [1994]
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Notes
- 1.
For an overview of Humanism, see Davies (1997).
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
According to the editorial brief within this issue, O’Conor changed his name to ‘Max More’ to ‘remove the cultural links to Ireland (which connotes backwardness rather than future- orientation) and to reflect the extropian desire for MORE LIFE, MORE INTELLIGENCE, MORE FREEDOM’ [sic] (More 1990: 4).
- 5.
At the time of writing the Extropy-Chat network continues to provide an active platform for futurist discussions, making it the longest running transhumanist email list in the world.
- 6.
Although libertarian politics has at no point been declared intrinsic to the extropian philosophy, a scan of the extropy-chat archives reveals the topic of libertarianism has been an enduring discussion point across the magazine and e-mail list over the years (Extropy Institute 2003–2016).
- 7.
In the first years of the 1990s, other distinct futurist groups emerged within this space including the Transtopians and Singularitarians. While sharing some overlapping interests, the two can be clearly distinguished as such: Transtopianism positions itself as being closely related to its parent philosophy transhumanism, but with an even more ‘hardcore’ anarchic-hedonist edge.
- 8.
For a self-authored account of the overlap between Zoltan’s transhumanism and libertarianism, see Istvan (2014b).
- 9.
The party deliberately supported a candidate in a safe seat to raise awareness of the Party for future electoral campaigns—and with it “start a conversation about the bigger picture of politics” with the public uninhibited by concerns regarding their vote being wasted (Twyman 2015c).
- 10.
At the time of closing the TPUK’s petition to the UK Government held 598 signatures. It is available to view online at: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/120692.
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MacFarlane, J.M. (2020). Moving Beyond Humanism: A Review of Literature. In: Transhumanism as a New Social Movement. Palgrave Studies in the Future of Humanity and its Successors. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40090-3_2
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