Technology and Touch ― The Biopolitics of Emerging Technologies

Technology and Touch addresses the development of a range of new touch technologies, both technologies that we reach out to touch (like iPhones and iPads) and technologies that touch us (such as new prosthetics, smart clothing and robots). Cranny-Francis explores how this development helps us to connect with and understand our world, and ourselves. This everyday practice, or biopolitics of touch, is exemplified in a range of art works that deploy touch and allow us to examine the nature of being and of meaning. Cranny-Francis also refers the biopolitics of touch to the study of new touch technologies, exploring their capacity to have us reflect on old fears and prejudices, as well as challenging our incorporation into technologies and networks that may be unethical or deeply compromised.

Anne Cranny-Francis is Professor of Cultural Studies and Director of the Transforming Cultures Research Centre at the University of Technology Sydney. Her books include MultiMedia: Text and Context (2005), Gender Studies: Terms and Debates (2003), The Body in the Text (1995), Popular Culture (1994), Engendered Fictions (1992), and Feminist Fiction (1990).