The Culture of speed and slow movement

Hello, I am Himanshi Parmar, student of MK Bhavnagar University. This blog i have written as a response to Thinking Activity, Which is a Part of my academic Work. Which we get after each unit. In this blog, i am going to discuss about The Culture of Speed and the counterculture of Slow Movement.

About Paul Virilio

Paul Virilio was a French cultural theorist, urbanist, architect and aesthetic philosopher. Born on 4 January 1932, Paris, France and died on 10 September 2018, Paris, France.He is best known for his writings about technology as it has developed in relation to speed and power, with diverse references to architecture, the arts, the city and the military.

He was trained as an artist at the Ecole des Metiers d’Art, which led him to an early career working with Henri-Emile-Benoît Matisse on stained glass windows in several Paris churches. Virilio later attended lectures in phenomenology by Maurice Merleau-Ponty at the Sorbonne as well as studied architecture there. He converted to Christianity in 1950 and fought in the Algerian War. phenomenology, in particular the work of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Martin Heidegger, and Edmund Husserl. Two other evident influences on his work are the Italian futurist Filippo Tommaso Marinetti and Albert Einstein.

The latest works by Paul Virilio focus on technoscientific questions regarding the relation between humans and technology, which he has elaborated into concepts such as “transplant revolution,” “the third,” and “polar inertia.” The influence of the technoscientific writings of physicist Albert Einstein can be seen in the concept of polar inertia. His book Polar Inertia (2000) explores the ways in which real space has been supplanted by real time due to the advances of electro-optical transmission technology.

What is Culture?

According to the Oxford Dictionary, “Culture is the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively”.

2} “Culture is the ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular people or society”.

The 19th-century English anthropologist Edward Burnett Tylor in the first paragraph of his Primitive Culture (1871) gave the definition of culture. For him, “Culture . . . is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.”

Culture encompasses religion, food, what we wear, how we wear it, our language, marriage, music and is different all over the world.Culture is the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people, encompassing language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts. Thus culture is considered as shared patterns of behaviors and interactions, cognitive constructs and understanding that are learned by socialization. Thus, culture can be seen as the growth of a group identity fostered by social patterns unique to the group. 

There are many countries Like US, India, France, Italy, Germany, Russia, China etc that are world famous for their rich culture, Their customs, tradition, food, music, and art. That led many tourists to visit the place.The word "culture" derives from a French term, which in turn derives from the Latin "colere," which means to tend to the earth and grow, or cultivation and nurture, according to Arthur Asa Berger(opens in new tab). De Rossi said that,

"It shares its etymology with a number of other words related to actively fostering growth."

Paul Virilio and Hyper-modernism/ The Culture of Speed

Paul Virilio is one of the most significant French cultural theorists writing today. Increasingly hailed as the inventor of concepts such as 'dromology' (the 'science' of speed), Virilio is renowned for his declaration that the logic of acceleration lies at the heart of the organization and transformation of the modern world. However, Virilio's thought remains much misunderstood by many postmodern cultural theorists.

In this article, and supporting the ground-breaking work of Arthur and Marilouise Kroker, It shall evaluate the contribution of Virilio's writings by suggesting that they exist beyond the terms of postmodernism and that they should be conceived of as a contribution to the emerging debate over 'hypermodernism'.Dromos is an Ancient Greek noun for race or racetrack, which Virilio applied the activity of racing. It is with this meaning in mind that he coined the term 'dromology', which he defined as the "science (or logic) of speed“. Dromology is important when considering the structuring of society in relation to warfare and modern media. He noted that the speed at which something happens may change its essential nature, and that which moves with speed quickly comes to dominate that which is slower. 'Whoever controls the territory possesses it. Possession of territory is not primarily about laws and contracts, but first and foremost a matter of movement and circulation.'

What is slow movement culture?

The slow movement (sometimes capitalised Slow movement or Slow Movement) advocates a cultural shift toward slowing down life's pace. It began with Carlo Petrini's protest against the opening of a McDonald's restaurant in Piazza di Spagna, Rome in 1986 that sparked the creation of the slow food movement.Speaker and journalist Carl Honoré, the author of “In Praise of Slow” and three other books defining and advocating for the "Slow Movement," believes we should have more focus on living each moment to the fullest and putting quality before quantity in many aspects of life.

When Our obsession with speed “has reached the point of absurdity," says Carl Honoré, author of the "Slow Movement."If we could just slow down our lives, they would be a whole lot better.Hoda Kotb and guest host Maria Shriver, who was filling in for Jenna Bush Hager on her maternity leave, dedicated Friday's edition of "Hoda and Jenna" to talking about the beneficial effects of slowing it down.

"We don't have a culture that just says it's OK to rest in this moment,'' Maria said. "It's so good for your entire health."

CS and Feminism - Cyberfeminism: Artificial Intelligence and the Unconscious Biases.

Hello, I am Himanshi Parmar, student of MK Bhavnagar University. This blog i have written as a response to Thinking Activity, Which is a Part of my academic Work. Which we get after each unit. In this blog, i am going to discuss about what is cyberfeminism and Artificial Intelligence and the Unconscious Biases.

Definition and meaning of Cyberfeminism.

Cyberfeminism is a Social and artistic practices on the net with feminist ideological content. Feminist movement interpreting the evolution of cybernetics as allowing the development of a culture in which inequalities are eradicated and traditional gender relations and stereotypes are defied (for instance, through the experimentation with gender identities or the creation of sisterhood networks on the Internet), empowering women and marking a shift away from their traditional symbolic representation as technologically ignorant.

Third definition of Cyberfeminism is, "Discipline within feminism that sees cyberspace and virtual reality as neutral realms in terms of gender. This school of thought visions a society beyond gendered bodies where women can communicate and act outside the restrictions imposed by patriarchal societies."

Origin

The term cyberfeminism was coined by VNS Matrix (read Venus Matrix), an ustralian artist collective active between 1991 and 1997, who, inspired by Donna Haraway's Cyborg Manifesto, wrote the Cyberfeminist Manifesto for the 21st Century.Their art was a “mission to hijack the toys from technocowboys and remap cyberculture with a feminist bent” (Schaffer 1999:150) and as such was concerned with subverting the perceived androcentrism of new technologies, for instance by re-imagining “the clitoris [as] a direct line to the matrix“.

Cyberfeminism

Cyberfeminism could imagine ways of linking the historical and philosophical practices of feminism to contemporary feminist projects and networks both on and off the Net, and to the material lives and experiences of women in the integrated circuit, taking full account of age, race, class, and economic differences.For example: Cyberfeminism can be a critique at equality in cyberspace, challenge the gender stereotype in the cyberspace, examine the gender relationship in cyberspace, examine the collaboration between human and technology, examine the relationship between women and technology and more.

Cyberfeminism arose partly as a reaction to "the pessimism of the 1980s feminist approaches that stressed the inherently masculine nature of techno-science", a counter movement against the 'toys for boys' perception of new Internet technologies. According to a text published by Trevor Scott Milford, another contributor to the rise of cyberfeminism was the lack of female discourse and participation online concerning topics that were impacting women. As cyberfeminist artist Faith Wilding argued: "If feminism is to be adequate to its cyberpotential then it must mutate to keep up with the shifting complexities of social realities and life conditions as they are changed by the profound impact communications technologies and techno science have on all our lives.Donna Haraway is the inspiration and genesis for cyberfeminism with her 1985 essay "A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century" which was reprinted in Simians, Cyborgs and Women: The Reinvention of Nature (1991).Cyberfeminism is considered a predecessor to networked feminism. Cyberfeminism also has a relationship to the field of feminist science and technology studies.

Cyberfeminism intends to empower women by making them assured while reclaiming space around them as it is another extension of the feminist theory and practice. Beginning from the premise that women have the right to social, political and economic equality and the fact that feminist theory and practice is essential in exposing and disrupting the sexist, racist, heterosexist, classist, and ableist.

TED TALK by Kriti Sharma.

Watch the video here,

Here i have referred Ted Talk of Kriti Sharma about how to keep human biases out of everything. The talk is about AL and biases, she also included her personal experience. We have technology like Alexa and Siri, which has women voice and we keep giving them different works like to sing, talk, switch on the fan and this that. Which is quite problematic that why they use women voice in making working model, and not man. Where eles when we talk about robots that help to make decision,full of ideas, and working at some authentic, respectable place, it always has male voice. When children grows up looking it they creats biases about the work distribution of male and female.

Also Kriti Sharma told about the technology that made by White people. They always creat people like them white with silky, smooth hair. While black people are they put into datk light and inferior. Here we find racism and AL biases.

Loomba also discussed about,solutions for this major issues gives three points that are,

1. Be aware of our own biases.

2. Make sure that diverse team is making technolocame 

3. Give AI diverse experience and atmosphere to learn from.

This how she pointed out how AL filled with gender biases. The technology and AL are also human creation, so unconsciously it came into gender biases.

TED TALK by Robin Hauser

Watch the video here,

Robin Hauser focuses on ‘Can we protect AI from our Biased?’

Further Robin Hauser try to make sure the solutions of AL biases. It is very important to take the problem of AL biases seriously. If we not find the solution today, then must just like our society, AL and other technology will also become biased. In today's world we have decided the role of men and women in society and that behavior, that role we are inputting into AL and technology also, that will going to be so problematic.

Since childhood child often taught what their role are, for example whenever any guest come our home, the work of giving them water that said to girl only not boy even they are sitting together. There is relatable interesting rhymes in hindi,

Thus to conclude we can say that if the biases overpowered technology and AL, it will take decades to get bias free.

I hope my blog will be helpful to you. Thank you.

Future of Postcolonial studies.

Hello, I am Himanshi Parmar, student of MK Bhavnagar University. This blog i have written as a response to Thinking Activity, Which is a Part of my academic Work. Which we get after each unit. In this blog, i am going to discuss about two articles 1)In Globalisation working with whom and what it is important, and 2)We had to live with that here for 500 years, and now we want to be our own masters.' Also in this blog i have mentioned sevaral examples.

What is postcolonial studies?

One prominent definition for postcolonialism is that it involves a studied engagement with the experience of colonialism and its past and present effects, both at the local level of ex-colonial societies and at the level of more general global developments thought to be the after-effects of empire.

According to Oxford Dictionary,

"Post colonial studies are the political or cultural condition of a former colony."

Another definition given is,

"Postcolonialism is a theoretical approach in various disciplines that is concerned with the lasting impact of colonization in former colonies."

Postcolonial theory is a body of thought primarily concerned with accounting for the political, aesthetic, economic, historical, and social impact of European colonial rule around the world in the 18th through the 20th century.

What is Globalization?

Globalization is a term used to describe how trade and technology have made the world into a more connected and interdependent place. Globalization also captures in its scope the economic and social changes that have come about as a result.

Globalization is the word used to describe the growing interdependence of the world's economies, cultures, and populations, brought about by cross-border trade in goods and services, technology, and flows of investment, people, and information.

Globalization means the speedup of movements and exchanges (of human beings, goods, and services, capital, technologies or cultural practices) all over the planet. One of the effects of globalization is that it promotes and increases interactions between different regions and populations around the globe. It's a national policy of treating the whole world as a proper sphere for political influence compare imperialism, internationalism.

1) Globalization and the Future of Postcolonial Studies – Ania Loomba – Colonialism/Postcolonialism – 2nd Edition

The Future of Postcolonial Studies celebrates the twenty-fifth anniversary of the publication of The Empire Writes Back by the now famous troika - Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin. When The Empire Writes Back first appeared in 1989, it put postcolonial cultures and their post-invasion narratives on the map. This vibrant collection of fifteen chapters by both established and emerging scholars taps into this early mapping while merging these concerns with present trends which have been grouped as: comparing, converting, greening, post-queering and utopia.

The postcolonial is a centrifugal force that continues to energize globalization, transnational, diaspora, area and queer studies. Spanning the colonial period from the 1860s to the present, The Future of Postcolonial Studies ventures into other postcolonies outside of the Anglophone purview. In reassessing the nation-state, language, race, religion, sexuality, the environment, and the very idea of 'the future,' this volume reasserts the notion that postcolonial is an "anticipatory discourse" and bears testimony to the driving energy and thus the future of postcolonial studies.

Topics covered include globalization, new grassroots movements (including Occupy Wall Street), the environmental crisis, and the relationship between Marxism and postcolonial studies. Loomba also discusses how ongoing struggles such as those of indigenous peoples, and the enclosure of the commons in different parts of the world shed light on the long histories of colonialism. This edition also has extensive discussions of temporality, and the relationship between premodern, colonial and contemporary forms of racism. This books includes:key features of the ideologies and history of colonialism.The relationship of colonial discourse to literature

anticolonial thought and movements.Challenges to colonialism, including anticolonial discourses

recent developments in postcolonial theories and histories.Issues of sexuality and colonialism, and the intersection of feminist and postcolonial thoughtthe relationship of activist struggles and scholarship.Colonialism/Postcolonialism is the essential introduction to a vibrant and politically charged area of literary and cultural study. It is the ideal guide for students new to colonial discourse theory, postcolonial studies or postcolonial theory as well as a reference for advanced students and teachers.

Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri’s Empire says that the con-temporary global order has produced a new form of sovereignty that should be called ‘Empire’ but which is best understood in contrast toEuropean empires. Here is original line from it,

In contrast to imperialism, Empire establishes no territorial center of power and does not rely on fixed boundaries or barriers. It is a decen-tered and deterritorializing apparatus of rule that progressively incor-porates the entire global realm within its open, expanding frontiers.Empire manages hybrid identities, flexible hierarchies, and plural exchanges through modulating networks of command. The distinct national colors of the imperial map of the world have merged and blended in the imperial global rainbow.(Hardt and Negri 2000: xiii–xiii)

Another is  P. Sainath who observe fostering ideological openness, has resulted in its own fundamentalism, which then catalyzes others in reaction, he said that,

Market fundamentalism destroys more human lives than any other simply because it cuts across all national, cultural, geographic, reli-gious and other boundaries. It’s as much at home in Moscow as inMumbai or Minnesota. A South Africa – whose advances in the early1990s thrilled the world – moved swiftly from apartheid to neo-liberal-ism. It sits as easily in Hindu, Islamic or Christian societies. And it contributes angry, despairing recruits to the armies of all religious fundamentalisms. Based on the premise that the market is the solu-tion to all the problems of the human race, it is, too, a very religious fundamentalism. It has its own Gospel: The Gospel of St. Growth, of St. Choice.

(2001: n.p.)

The article ends with the discussion about globalization and Ecocriticism. It discussing about how multinational companies making us colonized. It is also discussed about the rebellion against this colonization by suppressed / colonized people. Here are some examples of it.

Examples

1) Lagaan

In this movie Britishers charged lots of money to village people even if there is Famishment.Villagers rebel against it and play cricket with them with the conditions that if they win the Britishers let go their tax but if they loose they have to pay double tax. The story is about Colonizers and colonized conflicts.

2) Reluctant Fundamentalism

This movie is about conflict between religious fundamentalist and market fundamentalism. The film includes higher - fire policies of multinational companies, And it's dangers. Another thing they included was 9/11 attack and Muslim's situation in America after the attack.

2) Future of Postcolonial Studies – Ania Loomba Colonialism/Postcolonialism - 3rd Edition

Many famous post colonial scholars gave their views in this article. Such as Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak claims that,

‘No longer have a postcolonial perspective. I think postcolonial is the day before yesterday’ (Spivak 2013: 2). Along with it some postcolonial critics wrote about environmental studies, for example Dipesh Chakrabarty, ‘readings in theories of globalization, Marxist analysis of capital, subaltern studies, and postcolonial criticism over the last twenty-five years’ have not prepared him for the task of analyzing the ‘planetary crisis of climate change’ (2009: 199).

Ramachandra Guha and JuanMartínez-Alier (1997) point out, is evident in American environmentalism and its obsession with the wilderness.further Rob Nixon  notes that this wilderness obsession is celebrated in American literature as well as in natural history, where ‘There is a durable tradition … of erasing the history of colonized peoples through the myth of the empty lands. … a prodigious amount of American environmental writing and criticism. Then later Vilashini Cooppan points out

that from its inception [there is] a prevailing version of postcolonial studies in the United States that so embraces its aura of ‘new work’ and its dual allegiances to high theory and a rather reified, distanced, and monolithic ‘Third World literature’ that it largely estranges itself from the individual and collection histories of several important allied traditions such as American studies, Native-American studies, African-American studies, Asian-American studies, Latino studies, and Gay and Lesbian studies (Cooppan 1999: 7)

Rosa Luxemburg further said about revised Marx. "Its predominant methods are colonial policy, an international loan system, a policy of spheres of interest—and war. Force, fraud, oppression, looting are openly displayed without any attempt at concealment,and it requires an effort to discover within this tangle of political violence and contests of power the stern laws of the economic process." (1951: 452).

David Harvey suggests that we redefine ‘primitive accumulation’ as ‘accumulation by dispossession’ (2005: 144). Harvey points out that All the features of primitive accumulation that Marx mentions have remained powerfully present with capitalism’s historical geography until now. Displacement of peasant populations and the formation of a landless proletariat has accelerated in countries such as Mexico and India in the last three decades, many formerly common property resources, such as water, have been privatised (often at World Bank insistence) … alternative (indigenous and even, in the case of the United States, petty commodity) forms of production and consumption have been suppressed. Nationalised industries have been privatised.Family farming has been taken over by agribusiness. And slavery has not disappeared (particularly in the sex trade).(Harvey 2005: 145–46)

German Carl Schmitt's views are, ‘open’ spaces in which the activity of European nations proceeded unrestrained: first, an immeasurable space of free land—the New World, America, the land of freedom i.e., land free for appropriation by Europeans—where the ‘old’ law was not in force; and second, the free sea—the newly discovered oceans conceived by the French,Dutch and English to be a realm of freedom.(Schmitt 2003: 94).

Chittaroopa Palit, NBA leader said that,

Though international political factors, such as the character of the governments involved, the existence of able support groups in the North that play an important part, they cannot supplant the role of a mass movement struggling on the ground. Soon after the SPD government in Berlin refused a guarantee to Siemens, the German multinational, for building the dam in Maheshwar, it agreed to underwrite the company’s involvement in the Tehri dam in the Himalayas and the catastrophic Three Gorges Dam in China—both just as destructive as the Narmada project; but in neither instance were there strong mass struggles on the ground. 

(Palit) 

Examples

1) “Tatvamasi” by Dhruv Bhatt

The book was written when NBD took place. It is required for writers to speak out about injustice, And that's the moral duety of them.but in this book Dhruv Bhatt keep silence about Narmada Bachao Andolan. It's a a escape of them. Just like the romantic era writers Dhruv Bhatt also just glorify beauty of nature. Not what is needed and required.

I hope my blog will be helpful to you. Thank you.