
Nonhuman Witnessing
War, Data, and Ecology After the End of the World
Michael Richardson(Author)
Duke University Press
Published on 9. February 2024
Book
Paperback/Softback
256 pages
978-1-4780-2564-1 (ISBN)
Description
In Nonhuman Witnessing Michael Richardson argues that a radical rethinking of what counts as witnessing is central to building frameworks for justice in an era of endless war, ecological catastrophe, and technological capture. Dismantling the primacy and notion of traditional human-based forms of witnessing, Richardson shows how ecological, machinic, and algorithmic forms of witnessing can help us better understand contemporary crises. He examines the media-specificity of nonhuman witnessing across an array of sites, from nuclear testing on First Nations land and autonomous drone warfare to deepfakes, artificial intelligence, and algorithmic investigative tools. Throughout, he illuminates the ethical and political implications of witnessing in an age of profound instability. By challenging readers to rethink their understanding of witnessing, testimony, and trauma in the context of interconnected crises, Richardson reveals the complex entanglements between witnessing and violence and the human and the nonhuman.
Reviews / Votes
"The work of Michael Richardson is like a four dimensional cartography to navigate the hyperaesthetics of our post-photographic present." - Eyal Weizman, coauthor of (Investigative Aesthetics: Conflicts and Commons in the Politics of Truth) "Foregrounding the ethical dimensions of the convergence between the fields of security and ecology, Michael Richardson explores whether witnessing is taking place beyond the boundaries of the human. By making a fantastic case for the reversal of the humanist concept of witnessing, Richardson impacts what kinds of research questions can be asked across the disciplines." - Jairus Victor Grove, author of (Savage Ecology: War and Geopolitics at the End of the World) "Richardson examines what it means to bear witness in the modern world. In an era of escalating geopolitical tensions and instability, impending climate disaster, and technological transformation with artificial intelligence, the book makes a case for expanding our conception of what forms witnessing can take." (University of New South Wales Sydney) "Nonhuman Witnessing is ingeniously structured and beautifully written, and for geographers concerned with questions of testimony and trauma it provides a provocative and original rendering of witnessing as a concept, while the array of examples and theoretical arguments speak directly to geographical work on violence, (non)relationality, the Anthropocene and more." - Richard Carter-White (Social and Cultural Geography)More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
North Carolina
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
28 illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 14 mm
Weight
374 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4780-2564-1 (9781478025641)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
01/2024
1st Edition
De Gruyter
€32.99
Available for download
Person
Michael Richardson is Associate Professor of Media and Culture at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, and author of Gestures of Testimony: Torture, Trauma, and Affect in Literature.
Content
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction. Nonhuman Witnessing 1
1. Witnessing Violence 37
2. Witnessing Algorithms 80
3. Witnessing Ecologies 112
4. Witnessing Absence 150
Coda. Toward a Politics of Nonhuman Witnessing 174
Notes 185
Bibliography 207
Index 229
Introduction. Nonhuman Witnessing 1
1. Witnessing Violence 37
2. Witnessing Algorithms 80
3. Witnessing Ecologies 112
4. Witnessing Absence 150
Coda. Toward a Politics of Nonhuman Witnessing 174
Notes 185
Bibliography 207
Index 229