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Michael Gallope, Experimenting the Human: Art, Music, and the Contemporary Posthuman. By Douglas Barrett, Music and Letters, Volume 106, Issue 1, February 2025, Pages 157–159, https://doi.org/10.1093/ml/gcae087
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Extract
The current popularity of posthumanism indicates that something is amiss, even dissonant, in the wiring together of capitalism and humanism. Indeed, aggressive techno-capitalism and liberal humanism have long been an uneasy pair; for different but interdependent reasons, both remain on a deeply uncertain trajectory. Capitalist growth has stagnated for decades; the planet is saturated with development and out of new markets to exploit. AI and new forms of automation promise to displace a new generation of labour. The idealists of liberal democracy have lost control of popular opinion. Right-wing populists, regressive edgelords, Nietzschean outbursts, and angry stagnation dominate entire spheres of the media. Xenophobia, racism, and sexism live on. As we dive headlong towards ecocide, decisions that affect the well-being of billions are made by shareholder oligarchies. Human rights may provide ethical guideposts, but there is a sense that those in power will suspend them to suit their interests. Even when food, good housing, and accurate information are in abundance, for many, happiness is in retreat.