Monsters, Goddesses and Cyborgs: Feminist Confrontations with Science, Medicine and Cyberspace [Paperback]

Nina Lykke (Editor), Rosi Braidotti (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 1996

What is a specifically feminist perspective on science and technology? Focusing in particular on the socio-cultural implications of the latest scientific and technological developments, this book proposes a site of resistance to hegemonic discourses and practices of science and technology.

Four sections cover science as a whole, the new technologies of the postmodern era, bio-medical discourses and nature. A distinguished cast of contributors explore the central feminist concerns in each arena, through the metaphors of monster, mother goddess and cyborg. They argue that feminists cannot ignore the emancipatory as well as the oppressive potentials of technology. Bringing together 'natural' and 'social' scientists, the book paves the way for a specifically feminist strategy for science, technology and health care.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Congratulations to Nina Lykke and Rosi Braidotti for their brave new challenge to feminist scientists and political thinkers. They provide a much welcomed text to move us beyond the analytical and ideological limitations of the feminist academic position. It is an exciting read, full of originality and insight. Interdisciplinary and international, it crosses and reworks familiar boundaries with an energy and enthusiasm which should be the mark of all feminist projects. A very important book to all feminist writers and actors in the field of cultural studies, political and natural sciences." - Wendy Harcourt.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Zed Books (June 15, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1856493822
• ISBN-13: 978-1856493826
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,122,018 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Contribution to Feminist Science Studies, June 4, 2000

By 

sidney eve matrix - See all my reviews

This review is from: Monsters, Goddesses and Cyborgs: Feminist Confrontations with Science, Medicine and Cyberspace (Hardcover)

Essays cover a wide range of topics, from the discourse of monstrocity and its place in cyborg genealogy, to an examination of the "postmodernification" of menopause and reproductive technologies, to an analysis of the use of gendered metaphors in physics. Also examines the practice of "virtual" (sic?) sexual harassment and violence online, and includes a comparative essay underscoring the relationship between cyberfeminism and ecofeminism. Lykke's Introduction provides a context for this anthology, situating it in relation to second wave (1970s) feminist analyses of gender and science, and women and technology. Braidotti's Postface restates the key concerns running through the volume, which can be generally described as interrogations of what counts as "nature," as natural and as normal in scientific and medical discourses and practices, especially when they explicitly (or inexplicitly) employ sexed/gendered ideologies. As the title suggests, this text is in conversation with Donna Haraway's "Manifesto for Cyborgs" (in _Simians, Cyborgs and Women; The Reinvention of Nature_, 1991).