
The Revenge of the Real
Politics for a Post-Pandemic World
Benjamin Bratton(Author)
Verso Books (Publisher)
Published on 12. July 2022
Book
Paperback/Softback
192 pages
978-1-83976-257-4 (ISBN)
Description
The Revenge of the Real envisions a new positive biopolitics that recognises that how populations govern themselves is literally a matter of life and death. We are grappling with multiple interconnected dilemmas - climate change, pandemics, the tensions between the individual and society - all of which have to be addressed on a planetary scale. Even when separated, we are still enmeshed. Can the world govern itself differently? If so, what models and philosophies are needed?
Bratton argues that, instead of thinking of technology as something that happens to society, we must see how it can form the basis of a politics of infrastructure, knowledge, and direct intervention. He urges us to reconsider questions of "surveillance" in the face of necessary testing and care. He asks what did the "mask wars" reveal about the destructive nature of individualism as the basis of sovereignty? The book proposes that it is time to transform how we live, work and thrive. Rethinking governance means rethinking how we interact with each other as a global population, and how we ensure our obligations to each other. For this, we should build a society based in a new rationality of inclusion, care and foresight.
Bratton argues that, instead of thinking of technology as something that happens to society, we must see how it can form the basis of a politics of infrastructure, knowledge, and direct intervention. He urges us to reconsider questions of "surveillance" in the face of necessary testing and care. He asks what did the "mask wars" reveal about the destructive nature of individualism as the basis of sovereignty? The book proposes that it is time to transform how we live, work and thrive. Rethinking governance means rethinking how we interact with each other as a global population, and how we ensure our obligations to each other. For this, we should build a society based in a new rationality of inclusion, care and foresight.
Reviews / Votes
Endlessly thought-provoking -- Kim Stanley Robinson Breaks more new ground than a carpet bombing. -- Bruce Sterling Cuts through many received ideas about technology, globalization, and so forth and presents a fresh vision of the architecture of the world. -- McKenzie WarkMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Illustrations
None
Dimensions
Height: 197 mm
Width: 131 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
156 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-83976-257-4 (9781839762574)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
06/2021
Verso Books
€19.49
Available for download
Previous edition

Book
06/2021
Verso Books
€19.00
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Person
Benjamin Bratton is Professor of Visual Arts and Director of the Center for Design and Geopolitics at the University of California, San Diego. He is Program Director of The New Normal programme at Strelka Institute of Media, Architecture and Design in Moscow. He is also a Professor of Digital Design at The European Graduate School and Visiting Faculty at SCI_Arc (The Southern California Institute of Architecture). He is the author of the hugely influential The Stack as well as The New Normal and Terraforming.