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Microbes and the Permeable Body: Rethinking Health Through the Holobiont
Donna Haraway opens When Species Meet with the proclamation that “human genomes can be found in only about 10 percent of all the cells that occupy the mundane space I call my body” (Haraway, 2007). The rest of the human body is comprised of bacteria, viruses, archaea and other microorganisms – largely invisible to the human eye, but nonetheless living on and within us. In recent years we have seen a proliferation of research and attention towards these microorganisms, particularly in the gut, skin, lungs, and mouth, with each comprising their own microbiome. Although this research is still developing, it is increasingly clear that these microorganisms may actually be fundamental to the development and functioning of human bodies. (more…) (read more...)
Animals in War: Multispecies Agency and the Memory of the Colombian Armed Conflict
In one testimony from Colombia’s armed conflict, a parrot named Lola repeated the phrases she heard around her: “Paraco asesino” (“paramilitary murderer”), “Viva la guerrilla” (“long live the guerrilla”), and “The vultures are coming” Her voice condensed the sounds, fears, and political tensions of war into a multispecies archive of memory. Far from being passive witnesses, animals moved within the infrastructures of conflict as companions, alarms, transportation, and sometimes even weapons. Yet these violent incorporations are only the most extreme expression of a broader multispecies world of conflict. (more…) (read more...)
Making for the Feed: Creativity, Platforms, and Visibility in China
Creativity is often imagined as a deeply human capacity: a moment of inspiration, a flash of originality, or an individual act of expression. Yet in contemporary digital environments, creativity rarely unfolds in isolation from technological systems. Across creative industries, from fashion and design to visual media, branding, and online content production, creative work increasingly takes shape within infrastructures of platforms, software tools, and algorithmic systems. These technologies do not simply enable creativity; they actively shape how creative ideas are imagined, produced, circulated, and evaluated. (more…) (read more...)