This essay focuses on a comparative analysis of three books on hope and speculative anthropology. It discusses the issues and relevance of speculative anthropology in the chosen books, highlighting similarities and dissimilarities.
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Running head: HOPE AND SPECULATIVE ANTHROPOLOGY HOPE AND SPECULATIVE ANTHROPOLOGY Name of the Student Name of the University Author Note
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1HOPE AND SPECULATIVE ANTHROPOLOGY Statement of Purpose In this particular essay the discussion shall be focusing upon a comparative analysis of three chosen bookThe Method of Hope: Anthropology, Philosophy and Fijian Knowledge, by Hirokazu Miyazaki; Magic’s Reason: An Anthropology of Analogy by Graham M Jones and Into the Extreme: US Environmental Systems and Politics beyond Earth by Valerie Olson. The broad frame of discussion shall be focusing upon the issues of hope and the futuristic orientation in the books through the demonstratecasing the relevance of speculative anthropology. Having provided the issues discussing about hope and speculative anthropology as mentioned in the books, the comparative analysis shall be provided whereby the similarities and dissimilarities, if any shall be mentioned of with an analytical undertone. Discussion In this particular section of the essay, the two key issue of hope and that of speculative anthropology in the chosen books shall be discussed and explained. The aim is not to provide a summary of the contents of the book but to highlight those parts of the text which have a mention of the issues of hope and speculative anthropology in the three chosen books. TheMethodofHope:Anthropology,PhilosophyandFijianKnowledge,by Hirokazu Miyazaki Hope The issue of hope as mentioned in this particular book had dealt with with the issue of the people of Suvavou origin finding an opportunity to voice their opinion and articulate their
2HOPE AND SPECULATIVE ANTHROPOLOGY interest against the ruling government of Fiji who had dispossessed the Suvavou original people of their belongings and had made them destitute. The author of this particular book had dealt with the issue of the Fijian original people, their history and the tragic experiences which had been faced by them due to the advent of modernization through the process of colonization. Miyazaki had in the book argued by means of using the popular saying “hope springs eternal in the human breast” as the justification for exemplifying hope. He had said that hope could be explained, as mentioned in the book by means of devoting quite an in depth insight into the living conditions of the original people of Suvavou origin of Fiji. The original inhabitants of Fiji had been driven away and only then had the capital city of Suva been established, which was at the cost of depriving the original inhabitants of their right to their land in the year 1882 (Fraenkel). Thisparticularanthropologicalaccounthaddealtwithatgreatdetailthetravails encuntered by the Suvavou origin people while they had been articulating their interests and concerns in order to get them fulfilled by the reigning ruling government in order to ensure that the atrocites that had been perpetrared against the Suvavou origin people got rectified and also that they could get justice and be subject to fair treatment in the post colonial nation of Fiji. Rarely in the history had such type of events occurred whereby the oppressed original people on their own accord had gained success in determining that they seek justice for their community by means of self mibilization against the reigning government, relentlessly with perseverance (Miyazaki). That is precisely the reason why the factor of hope is of extreme importance and the significance of it in the present context, which had been put forward in the form of the aspiration and the determination of the original people themselves for having unto themselves those assets all of which they believed to be justifiably something that which they should be owning and have
3HOPE AND SPECULATIVE ANTHROPOLOGY them in their possession. The description of the theoretical premise of hope is thus the core of the travails of the original people of Fiji with the ruling government for the sake of restoring all those of which belonged to them, their lands, their rights and their right to dignity (Steel). Speculative Anthropology The people of Suvavou origin had been quite relentless and also persevering for the pursuance of establishment of the truth and the strategies which they had utilised in unearthing them had been quite remarkable. The desire of unearthing the truth had thus played an important part in determining that the placing of all the differences of the various Fijian indegenous identities without differentiating between them and the distinct identity of the immigrants is not declared as the only and the ultimate truth. Thus it could be concluded that the travails of the people of Suvavou origin in determining that the uniqueness of their social and cultural identity is kept intact and is upheld. The hope of pressing for a claim to the uniqueness of their social and cultural identity had produced fruitful outcomes for the community of the Fijian original people. They had been victorious in the pursuit of deconstruction of the idea that the Fijian national identity was an organic whole. The travails of thepeople of Suvavou origin was thus demonstrative of the fact as expressed by Miyazaki that the identity of the human beings, whether as an individual or as a collectivity is quite important to their corporeal and social existence and that any move to delineate one of it was in all likelihood supposed to cause the undesired circumstances to take place which would have in all likelihood challenged the status quo of a particular reigning government and pose question to its legitimacy until and unless the demand to satisfy the requirement and to assert the identity gets fulfilled (Stein). Miyazaki had demonstrated that the people of Suvavou origin had embraced the Christian religion and the admixture of the original cultural practices with the Christian, western imported
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4HOPE AND SPECULATIVE ANTHROPOLOGY traditions make it evident that they were hopeful of the future to be a prosperous one and that their present too was being hoped to be a glorious one. Miyazaki had also demonstrated that the relationship of exchange between the different cultural specificities had caused to the formation of a vibrant culture formation in the post colonial Fiji and that the contemporary Fijian national culture was a byproduct of the legacy of the past and the reality of the present getting skillfully bound with each other inextricably. Throughout the book, Miyazaki had quite efficiently devoted an effort to demonstrate that the relation between the past, the present and the future, and also that thepeople of Suvavou origin were hopeful of a bright future which had accounted for the novelty of the book. Miyazaki had provided a different view point for viewing anthropology by not limiting it to just the study of the past but by means of presenting it as a way of looking to the future (Miyazaki 2006). Robo Sapiens Japanicus: Humanoid Robots and the Posthuman Family by Jennifer Robertson Hope This book was authored by Jennifer Robertson, which was based on and also a part of her project titled "Safety, Security, Convenience: The Political Economy of Service Robots in Japan”. In the book the author had explored the idea of the family structure and the nature of relationships in a post modern age dominated more by machines than human beings. The focus of the book is to explore the methods of filling the emotional void in life at an age dominated by a high degree of impersonalization and individuality that the sense of community gets destroyed (Schodt).
5HOPE AND SPECULATIVE ANTHROPOLOGY Japan, as per the views of the author is considered to be the first society in the post industrial age to welcome the prospect of the existence of human beings and robots together. Over the past few decades, Japanese humanoid robots had been designed for the future purposes at homes, at hospitals, at offices, and at schools. The news of the technological innovation had become highly celebrated in the international mass and social media as it was indeed a signal for change (Schodt). The book Robo Sapiens Japanicus had devoted a critical outlook on the press releasesandPRvideosfeaturingthenewsofhumanrobotswhichallegedlyhadbeen misrepresented in actuality. The presentation of the image of robots being quite versatile and agile machines bearing a semblance to human beings was more appropriate as science fiction counterparts, not a reality (Schodt). The ethnographic and sociocultural history of governmental and academic discourses dealing with the relationship and interaction between the human beings and robots in Japan is the core message of this particular book which seeks to explore the methods in which the actual robots, also referred to as humanoids, androids, animaloids in scientificandtechnologicaltermshavebeen“imagineered”inwaysforreinforcingthe traditional and conventional sex and gender system in the political and economic status quo. The bestowing of the “civil rights” to the robots had been interrogated with a critical undertone in keeping with the principle of human exceptionalism. Similarly, the manner in which the robots and the robotic exoskeletons reinforce or deviate the conception of the “normal” biological human body has been juxtaposed with the idea of the deconstruction of the much invoked Theory of the Uncanny Valley, throughout the book (Schodt). Speculative Anthropology The contribution of Japan accounts for almost 52 percentage of the total share of the functional robots in the world and has thus led the post industrial world in the path of development of
6HOPE AND SPECULATIVE ANTHROPOLOGY humanoidrobots,whichhavebeendesignedandmadepopularinthemarketscenario specifically for enhancing and augmenting the human society (Robertson). The initiative of Innovation 25championed by Prime Minister Abe's vision for remodelling the Japanese society by the turn of 2025, with the aim of reversing the declining rate of birth and also accommodating the rapidly ageing population of finds a mention in the book (Robertson). The idea of making robots coexist with the human beings emphasizes on the central role that which household robots are likely to play for the purpose of stabilizing the core institutions of the graasroot level socialization, for example the family. Along with that the exploration of the the cultural logic behind the development of autonomous, intelligent and evolutionary humanoid robots, the author argues that new biological and the robot technologies were likely to be deployed for reifying the old and the “traditional” values, such as the patriarchal extended family and also for the upholding of the sociopolitical conservative ideas (Šabanović). Into the Extreme: US Environmental Systems and Politics beyond Earth by Valerie Olson Hope In this particular book ‘Into the Extreme: US Environmental Systems and Politics beyond Earth’ composed by Valerie Olson the discussion had focused on the subject matter of the nation of United States of America making an effort to gain a sphere of influence on the outer space in order to have better influence on the whole world in terms of technological expertise and also in terms of having the best logistical facilities for the purpose of keeping a close watch on the military, technological and other logistical innovations of other nations and on the basis of it take proper measures to make and equip herself to be capable of balancing out the other nations of the
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7HOPE AND SPECULATIVE ANTHROPOLOGY world and specifically the enemies in terms of gaining influence in all possible ways. The core message of the Hollywood film ‘star wars’ is very much present in the message of the book as it tends to show how the nation of the United States of America had indulged in enmity with the other super powers in the period of cold war, the Soviet Union with regard to gaining dominance in the outer space. The issue discussed at great detail in the book however is not just aimed towards the presentation of the destructive possibilities of having greater dominance over the region of the outer space but also for generating a positive effect by getting an upper hand to better knowledge of the climatic changes and thereby enabling the averting of untoward consequences at the earliest possible (Geppert). The political undertone to this development is also very much there as in the period of cold war there was a political void which had been created. The USSR was a super power but the capacity of the political bloc was not that much as compared to the USA. While the political, economic power of the US Bloc was increasing by leaps and bounds, that of USSR was rather faltering and hence USA needed to gather much influence and also the strength to ensure that it could generate a hegemonic effect on the world and use it as a tool to gain a powerful position in the world. USA had apprehended the political situations that in order to gain a position of power in the world, she herself had to demonstrate to the world that she was powerful and only the could she be able to justify that she was worthy of being called a leader of the world (Gorman and O’LEARY). The cold war politics had turned to unipolarity from a position of multipolarity and the gathering of enough resources to lay a claim to the only powerful position in the world it was necessary that the United States of America proved it to the world that she had the power and the capability to rule over the world.
8HOPE AND SPECULATIVE ANTHROPOLOGY Speculative Anthropology The author of this particular book had dealt with the issue of the contribution of the technological innovations for carrying out expeditions at the outer space for the enhancement and prediction of the earthly conditions, especially with regard to the safeguarding of the natural environment (Wade). The core message of this particular book is oriented towards the discussion of the issue that the United States of America had been using the controlling power and influence for the purpose of indulging in full fledged rivalry with the USSR in outer space expeditions for the sake of having a great degree of hegemony in the affairs of the world. That was an alternate form of warfare as it involved the deployment of the scientific and the technological innovations for the purpose of having political control over the world affairs. It also exemplifies the nature of fighting that used to take place in the cold war era, which was not armed conflict, but a warfare of flexing each other’s influence between USA and USSR without indulging in armed conflict (Robertson). The greater the improvements the United States of America achieved in the field of technological innovations for enhancing the space technology, the greater the bargaining power of the nation had increased and that had enables USA to gain the status of being a superpower in the multipolr world. The hope of having a futuristic vision in strengthening the political control in the world was something which was envisaged by the United States of America as the full fledged armed warfare was not the only way in which domination on the world affairs would have been possible (Olson). Hence the logistical support building and the gathering of more technological expertise was being envisaged by the nation. The form of warfare adopted was in order to respond to the needs of the time and to indulge in warfare without indulging in armed conflict as the situations were not at all conducive for indulging in an armed conflict and a third
9HOPE AND SPECULATIVE ANTHROPOLOGY world war was practically impossible and inconceiveable. It would have meant the destruction of the world (Johnson-Freese). Comparative Analysis Thus on making a comparative analysis it shall become clear that the there are more of similaritiesthandifferences.Theelementsofsimilaritiesaccountfortheelementof deconstruction of the age old ideals, and a futuristic vision was supposed to be showcased. Miyazaki has used the imagery of hope to relate the trajectory of historical events from the past to the present and the significance hope holds for the future. The Fijian example that Miyazaki has provided is of utmost importance to the modern day in the sense that the methods of articulating the interests by the Suvavou people can be applied by other indigenous people who feel that they have been wronged and displaced by the immigrants. The Fijian model can be applied by the Canadian indigenous people for example (Fraenkel). Miyazaki had in the book argued by means of using the popular saying “hope springs eternal in the human breast” as the justification for exemplifying hope. He had said that hope could be explained, as mentioned in the book by means of devoting quite an in depth insight into the living conditions of the original people of Suvavou origin of Fiji. The original inhabitants of Fiji had been driven away and only then had the capital city of Suva been established, which was at the cost of depriving the original inhabitants of their right to their land in the year 1882 (Fraenkel). Rarely in the history had such type of events occurred whereby the oppressed original people on their own accord had gained success in determining that they seek justice for their community by means of self mibilization against the reigning government, relentlessly with perseverance (Miyazaki).
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10HOPE AND SPECULATIVE ANTHROPOLOGY Olson had tried to show that the cold war legacy has been resurrected by means of revamping upon the methods of indulging is the development of the space technology and bringing about scientific innovations. That shall revolutionize the idea of warfare in the future generations and also bring about a change in the conception of war (Geppert). The core message of this particular book is oriented towards the discussion of the issue that the United States of America had been using the controlling power and influence for the purpose of indulging in full fledged rivalry with the USSR in outer space expeditions for the sake of having a great degree of hegemony in the affairs of the world. That was an alternate form of warfare as it involved the deployment of the scientific and the technological innovations for the purpose of having political control over the world affairs. It also exemplifies the nature of fighting that used to take place in the cold war era, which was not armed conflict, but a warfare of flexing each other’s influence between USA and USSR without indulging in armed conflict (Robertson). Robertson had tried to show that the element of futuristic vision is very much immanent. The author of this particular book had dealt with the issue of the contribution of the technological innovations for carrying out expeditions at the outer space for the enhancement and prediction of the earthly conditions, especially with regard to the safeguarding of the natural environment (Wade). The core message of this particular book is oriented towards the discussion of the issue that the United States of America had been using the controlling power and influence for the purpose of indulging in full fledged rivalry with the USSR in outer space expeditions for the sake of having a great degree of hegemony in the affairs of the world. That was an alternate form of warfare as it involved the deployment of the scientific and the technological innovations for the purpose of having political control over the world affairs.Along with that the exploration of the the cultural logic behind the development of autonomous, intelligent and evolutionary humanoid
11HOPE AND SPECULATIVE ANTHROPOLOGY robots, the author argues that new biological and the robot technologies were likely to be deployed for reifying the old and the “traditional” values, such as the patriarchal extended family andalsofortheupholdingofthesociopoliticalconservativeideas(Šabanović).Italso exemplifies the nature of fighting that used to take place in the cold war era, which was not armed conflict, but a warfare of flexing each other’s influence between USA and USSR without indulging in armed conflict (Robertson).
12HOPE AND SPECULATIVE ANTHROPOLOGY References Fraenkel, Jon. "Ethnic Politics and Strongman Loyalties in Fiji’s 2018 Election."The Journal of Pacific History(2019): 1-27. Geppert, Alexander CT, ed.Imagining outer space: European astroculture in the twentieth century. Springer, 2018. Geraci, Robert M. "Spiritual robots: Religion and our scientific view of the natural world." Theology and Science4.3 (2006): 229-246. Gorman, Alice, and B. E. T. H. O’LEARY. "An ideological vacuum: The Cold War in outer space."A Fearsome Heritage. Routledge, 2016. 73-92. Greene, N.Hegel on the soul: A speculative anthropology. Springer Science & Business Media, 2012. Grosz, Elizabeth.Space, time and perversion: Essays on the politics of bodies. Routledge, 2018. Johnson-Freese, Joan.Space warfare in the 21st century: Arming the heavens. Routledge, 2016. Jones, Graham M.Magic's reason: An anthropology of analogy. University of Chicago Press, 2017. Miyazaki, Hirokazu.The method of hope: anthropology, philosophy, and Fijian knowledge. Stanford University Press, 2006. Olson, Valerie.Into the extreme: US environmental systems and politics beyond earth. U of Minnesota Press, 2018.
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13HOPE AND SPECULATIVE ANTHROPOLOGY Robertson, Jennifer. "Gendering humanoid robots: Robo-sexism in Japan."Body & Society16.2 (2010): 1-36. Robertson, Jennifer. "Human rights vs. robot rights: Forecasts from Japan."Critical Asian Studies46.4 (2014): 571-598. Robertson, Jennifer. "Robo sapiens japanicus: Humanoid robots and the posthuman family." Critical Asian Studies39.3 (2007): 369-398. Šabanović, Selma. "Inventing Japan’s ‘robotics culture’: The repeated assembly of science, technology, and culture in social robotics."Social Studies of Science44.3 (2014): 342- 367. Schodt, Frederik L. "Inside the robot kingdom."Journal of Manufacturing Systems7.4 (1988): 364-364. Steel, Frances. "Sitima days in Suva: Wharf labourers and the colonial port."Oceania under steam. Manchester University Press, 2017. Stein, Rebecca L., and Philip Stein.The Anthropology of Religion, Magic, and Witchcraft-- Pearson eText. Routledge, 2015. Turner, Victor Witter.The Lozi Peoples of North-Western Rhodesia: West Central Africa. Routledge, 2017. Wade, Jenny. "Going berserk: Battle trance and ecstatic holy warriors in the European war magic tradition."International Journal of Transpersonal Studies35.1 (2016): 5. Watt, Lucas. "Urban Vakavanua: reconciling tradition and urban development." (2019).