[-empyre-] FemTechNet: Can those theorizing media today take a lesson from feminist traditions?

[Renate Terese Ferro]

During the last week or so we have using the writing of Geert Lovink, Alex Galloway, Ken Wark, and Eugene Thacker to consider new approaches to media theory. Lovink in his blog post in the journal e-flux cynically brands the three authors of Excommunication as "the New York three." Galloway is Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication at NYU's Steinhardt School, while Wark and Thacker both have appointments at the New School in media related programs.  Despite their similar geographic location Lovink insists that it is not necessary or important to parse new media theories through comparative geographic distributions.

Interestingly in the same university as Thacker and Wark is Anne Balsamo, Dean of the School of Media Studies.  Anne Balsamo with T.L. Cowan and Veronica Paredes also at the New School, Lisa Nakamura from the University of Michigan and Liz Losh of UC Irvine join a collective of over a hundred feminist media artists, theorists, and scholars named FemTechNet. FemTechNet is currently planning a workshop in June at simultaneous sites in NYC, Ann Arbor, and Santa Monica.  Organizers will also include online participants.

This collective is rethinking not only new pedagogical possibilities but how looking at the historically rich past of science and technology with a feminist lens can formulate new and innovative theories of making and teaching.  Not grounded in the hierarchical structures that universities often are modeled, this collective uses  collaborations in discussions, writing, and teaching. Can those theorizing media today take a lesson from feminist traditions?  This collective seems to think so and insists that women have long been outspoken promoters of cultural, ethical, and socially engaged developments and innovations in science, technology, and media.

I give the "New York three" credit for proposing a novel way to consider media but the X in Excommunication must not X out gender and race issues.  FemTechNet have published this statement as to why their task is vital.

"As technology remakes academia and the arts, critical analysis of gender, sexualities, and race have been absent in much of this re-thinking of disciplines and practices. Since the early years of Internet availability, cyberfeminists have explored the use of the Internet for dialogue and participation across various socio-economic contexts.  Access and skills for women and people from economically and technologically underserved communities (such as populations from the developing world and inner cities of the U.S.) were central concerns for feminists in developing distributed and participatory environments for learning, training and information exchange.  Since the mid 1990s, cyberfeminists have developed and refined methods for inclusive teaching. But well before then, dating back centuries, women and feminists have been actively engaged in the creation of technological innovations and have been vocal advocates for the development of socially responsible, ethical, and culturally-attuned technological development and deployment."

Politically, socially, ethically, culturally engaged media making, teaching, and theorizing is critical in this era after Edward Snowden's revelations. It was almost one year ago on June 5, 2013 that Snowden launched the first of his security breaches.  It will be on June 9th that FemTechNet meets collectively to consider what might be ahead.

Renate
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