Chapter published in:
Developing New Identities in Social Conflicts: Constructivist perspectivesEdited by Esperanza Morales-López and Alan Floyd
[Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture 71] 2017
► pp. 203–226
Chapter 10Posthumanism and the city
The construction of identity and ideological conflict in discourses regarding the new technological self
In this paper, I discuss the underlying ideological conflict behind the concept of the “Smart City.” Sometimes naively praised and embraced as a great technological achievement, the Smart City is a very controversial concept, particularly if we interpret it within the context of posthumanist thinking, which discusses the ways in which technology may forever alter our daily lives, our bodies, our minds and, in the end, the whole identity of human beings.Within the theoretical and analytical framework the constructivist rhetoric offers, my main goal in the paper will be a reflection on the discursive setting of both posthumanism and the Smart City, along with the analysis of a corpus of political discourses describing the “smart” concept regarding the city of Barcelona.
Keywords: constructivist rhetoric, posthumanism, technology, Smart City, Barcelona, ideology, identity
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Theoretical background: Constructivist rhetoric
- 3.Transhumanism and posthumanism: Definitions and ideological conflict
- 3.1Human identity: Man’s doing against Mother Nature
- 3.2The abyss between mind and body
- 3.3Power and technological inequality
- 4.Posthumanism and the concept of “Smart City”
- 5.Barcelona, a Smart City?
- 6.Conclusions
-
Note -
References
Published online: 26 July 2017
https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.71.10mol
https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.71.10mol
References
Albaladejo, Tomás
2008 “Textualidad y comunicación: persistencia y renovación del sistema retórico (La rhetorica recepta como base de la retórica moderna).” Rhêtorikê: Revista Digital de Retórica 0: 1–19. (http://www.rhetorike.ubi.pt/00/pdf/albaladejo-textualidad_comunicacion.pdf).
Ballesteros Llompart, Jesús
2012 “Más allá de la eugenesia: el posthumanismo como negación del homo patients
.” Cuadernos de Bioética, XXIII: 15–23. (http://www.aebioetica.org/revistas/2012/23/77/15.pdf).
Barcelona en Comú
2015 “Programa electoral municipals 2015.” https://barcelonaencomu.cat/sites/default/files/programaencomu_cat.pdf. Accessed March 25, 2016.
Bostrom, Nick
2005 “In Defence of Posthuman Dignity.” Bioethics (19) 3: 202–214. (http://www.nickbostrom.com/ethics/dignity.html).
Capra, Fritjof
Colado, Sergio, Gutiérrez, Abelardo, Vives, Carlos J. and Valencia, Eduardo
Colau, Ada
2015 “De lo primero que haré será convocar a la banca.” La Vanguardia. Meritxell M. Pauné. http://www.lavanguardia.com/local/barcelona/20150511/54431132978/entrevista-ada-colau-elecciones-municipales-2015.html. Accessed March 25, 2016.
Colom, Agustí
2015 “La ‘smart city’ baja al suelo.” El Periódico. Barcelona. Carmen Jané. http://www.elperiodico.com/es/noticias/barcelona/barcelona-inicia-smart-city-expo-reorientando-estrategia-4677666. Accessed March 25, 2016.
De Cillia, Rudolf, Reisigl, Martin and Wodak, Ruth
1999 “The Discursive Construction of National Identities.” Discourse & Society 10 (2): 149–173. (http://www.sagepub.in/upm-data/40470_13b.pdf).
Dreyfus, Hubert L.
Erroteta, Peru
2015 “La estafa inteligente de la Barcelona de Trias.” El Triangle. http://www.eltriangle.eu/es/notices/2015/04/la-estafa-inteligente-de-la-barcelona-de-trias-3641.php. Accessed March 25, 2016.
Fish, Stanley
Fukuyama, Francis
Garnier, Jean Pierre
Graham, Elaine L.
Halberstam, Judith and Livingston, Ira
Haraway, Donna J.
Hayles, N. Katherine
Hughes, James
Kass, Leon R.
2003 “Ageless Bodies, Happy Souls: Biotechnology and the Pursuit of Perfection.” The New Atlantis. A Journal of Technology and Society, spring number. (http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/ageless-bodies-happy-souls).
Kurzweil, Ray
Laclau, Ernesto and Mouffe, Chantal
Lakoff, George
Mansilla, José
2015 “Algo va mal con las smart cities
.” Diagonal. https://www.diagonalperiodico.net/global/25633-algo-va-mal-con-smart-cities.html. Accessed March 25, 2016.
Maturana, Humberto and Varela, Francisco
Menzel, Peter and d’Aluisio, Faith
Molpeceres, Sara
2011 “La imagen del político como líder. Su construcción retórica a través del discurso y su efecto persuasivo.” In Entre Olózaga y Sagasta. Retórica, Prensa y Poder, ed. by José Antonio Caballero López, José Miguel Delgado Idarreta and Cristina Sáenz de Pipaón Ibáñez, 155–164. Logroño: Instituto de Estudios Riojanos.
Montesano Montessori, Nicolina and Morales-López, Esperanza
2015 “Multimodal Narrative as an Instrument for Social Change: Reinventing Democracy in Spain- the case of 15M.” CADAAD. Critical Approaches to Discourse Analysis across Disciplines, 7 (2): 200–221. (www.cadaadjournal.com).
Pentland, Alex
2012 “Reinventing Society in the Wake of Big Data. A Conversation with Alex (Sandy) Pentland.” Edge.org. https://www.edge.org/conversation/alex_sandy_pentland-reinventing-society-in-the-wake-of-big-data. Accessed March 25, 2016.
2013 “How, Exactly, Is Big Data Going to Change the World? M.I.T. computer scientist Alex Pentland explains.” Scientific American. Seth Fletcher. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/pentland-how-exactly-is-big-data-going-to-change-the-world-video/. Accessed March 25, 2016.
Perelman, Chaim and Olbrechts-Tyteca, Lucie
Pisarello, Gerardo
2015 “Barcelona En Comú presenta su plan para hacer una ciudad ‘más justa, más humana y más democrática’.” Eldiario.es. Arturo Puente. http://www.eldiario.es/catalunya/politica/Barcelona-Comu-presenta-ciudad-democratica_0_381462113.html. Accessed March 25, 2016.
Ramsbothan, Oliver, Woodhouse, Tom and Miall, Hugh
Ricoeur, Paul
Rifkin, Jeremy
Schäffner, Christina and Wenden, Anita L.
Schöpflin, George
Searle, John R.
Somers, Margaret
The Invisible Committee
2015 “Fuck off, Google!” https://alirahebi.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/fuck-off-google-1.pdf. Accessed March 25, 2016.
Trias, Xavier
2011 “Barcelona tendrá un Smart City Campus para definir las ciudades inteligentes del futuro.” La Vanguardia. http://www.lavanguardia.com/vida/20111129/54239526718/trias-barcelona-tendra-smart-city-campus-definir-ciudades-inteligentes-del-futuro.html. Accessed March 25, 2016.
2015b “Xavier Trias exigeix que el govern d’Ada Colau accepti mantenir el lideratge public en el sector de les Smart Cities”. CiU Barcelona. Grup Municipal de CiU a l’Ajuntament de Barcelona Webpage. http://ciu.cat/barcelona/noticies/xavier-trias-exigeix-govern-dada-colau-accepti-mantenir-lideratge-public-sector-les-smart-cities. Accessed March 25, 2016.
van Dijk, Teun A.
van Eemeren, Frans H. and Grootendorst, Rob
Wagner, Wolfgang and Hayes, Nicky
Wilson, Eric G.
Wodak, Ruth
Cited by
Cited by 1 other publications
Molpeceres, Sara
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 31 march 2022. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.