Beyond The Nature/Culture Divide? The Contradictions of Rosi Braidotti's The Posthuman

Bibliographic Data

ID8068074
AuthorsMichiel van Ingen (0000-0003-4443-0507, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume15
Issue5
Pages530-542
Publication date2016-08-23
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Critical Realism (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1476-7430 • E-ISSN: 1572-5138
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14767430.2016.1211371
OpenAlexW2513648696
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited12

Rosi Braidotti's The Posthuman is intent on ‘updating critical theory for the third millennium’. Indeed, Braidotti repeatedly stresses that the aim of her book is to develop an affirmative form of posthumanist critical theory which, by providing creative alternatives to current arrangements, will allow us to better face various contemporary socio-political challenges. This review essay argues, however, that the philosophical position which Braidotti's book develops is unsustainable, and that it does not provide us with the kind of basis for affirmative forms of critical theory and political practice which she suggests it does. Specifically, it argues that her philosophical framework results in persistent theory/praxis inconsistencies and is therefore lacking in ‘seriousness’. In addition, it will claim that these persistent theory/praxis inconsistencies reveal that her relation to ontological verticality (or ‘ontological stratification’) remains unresolved

Aesthetics · Critical theory · Epistemology · Political philosophy · Political science · Politics · Posthuman · Posthumanism · Praxis · Relation (database · Seriousness · Sociology · Foucault, Power, and Ethics · Political Economy and Marxism · Posthumanist Ethics and Activism · Law · Philosophy

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