Page 106 - Introducing Cultural Studies

The term cyborg was coined in the
1960s by the American scientists
Manfred Clynes and Nathan Kline
to refer to the enhanced man who
could survive the harsh
extraterrestrial environment.
Cyborgs were seen as cybernetic
organisms, a result of a fusion
between biology and technology.
Haraway brings cyborgs to earth
and defines them as "chimeras,
theorized and fabricated hybrids of
machine and organism", "a creature
in a post-gender world" that is
forged in particular historical and
cultural practices.

We are all cyborgs now, Haraway
contends, and might as well
prepare ourselves for joint kinship
with machines and not be afraid of
partial identities and contradictory
standpoints. Indeed, if we take
responsibility for social relations of
technology, we need no longer
demonize it, but start
"reconstructing the boundaries of
daily life, in partial connection with
others, in communication with all of
our parts".

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