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In the World of Postselves and Posthumans: The Biopolitical Utopia of Postmortalism

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Post-Apocalyptic Cultures

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Utopianism ((PASU))

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Abstract

The chapter focuses on the biopolitical challenges of the rise a postmortal society as a result of the burgeoning research and business connected with technologies concerned with assuring biological and digital immortality (such as “immortality drugs”, cloning, mind uploading, simulated friends, mindfiles, digital counterparts, etc.). The central thesis of the chapter is that the postmortal society is a kind of biopolitical utopia, in the sense of a pursued ideal and a driving force for biopolitics and bioeconomy, but also a scheme of biopower, rooted deeply in the past imaginations about immortal societies: today dubbed “postmortal” and fundamentally dependent on the concepts from the range of posthumanism. The chapter aims to enrich the debate over postmortalism, bringing to the forefront its utopian character, and attempts to answer the questions about the biopolitics of a society made of digital postselves and technobiological posthumans.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The term “posthuman” has been owned by various contemporary discourses, and exists on the spectrum from Lyotard’s inhuman through to Haraway’s posthuman. Its variegated nature is reflected in the many interpretive angles that are given in The Posthuman Glossary (2018) edited by Rosi Braidotti and Maria Hlavajova. Usually, the most frequent distinction—and one important to this chapter—is the distinction between posthumanism and transhumanism, which also uses the term “posthuman” (e.g., in The Transhumanist Reader, 2013). The difference between the two movements lies mostly in their relations to the anthropocentric humanism. Whereas posthumanism would look to the weakening the central position of humans in relation to other beings, transhumanism concentrates on humans and on enhancing their capacities, making them superior to nature that is seen as enemy. In the present chapter, we can see the trends connecting both, although more akin to transhumanism, for example, in its attempt to transcend death, and in seeking fusion with technology. However, the character of the inhabitants of the digital spaces seems to correspond also with the tenets of posthumanism, as it assumes a fluid character of data bodies and cyber-identities (as discussed, e.g., by Roden in The Posthuman Life, 2015).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ignatianum University in Cracow, Cracow, Poland

    Anna Bugajska

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  1. Anna Bugajska
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Correspondence to Anna Bugajska .

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  1. University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain

    Julia Urabayen

  2. University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain

    Jorge León Casero

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Bugajska, A. (2024). In the World of Postselves and Posthumans: The Biopolitical Utopia of Postmortalism. In: Urabayen, J., León Casero, J. (eds) Post-Apocalyptic Cultures. Palgrave Studies in Utopianism. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-50510-2_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-50510-2_6

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