Technopolitical Mediation
An Arendtian Approach to Political Philosophy of Technology
Published on 14. May 2026
240 pages
979-8-216-25957-2 (ISBN)
Description
Technologies, by mediating our political interpretations and interactions, inform the way in which political communities are formed.
This book investigates technologies and their impact on socio-politics, focusing on Hannah Arendt's political theory. It goes beyond equating power with politics, which inevitably leads to a limited understanding of the political implications of technology. Melis Bas argues that technologies play a much more significant role in politics than just exerting power over individuals. They condition, frame, create, and organize politics. Through the lens of Hannah Arendt's political hermeneutics, Bas illuminates the interactional relationship between technology and politics, thus enabling an understanding of politics beyond its manifestation as power. Furthermore, Arendt's understanding of intersubjectivity-based as it is on a dynamic relationship between the self, the world, and other people-leaves room to examine the associated role of material conditions. Developing an alternative framework of politics of technology based on Arendt's political theory requires a perspective on technology that can address how the world becomes politically meaningful.
This book investigates technologies and their impact on socio-politics, focusing on Hannah Arendt's political theory. It goes beyond equating power with politics, which inevitably leads to a limited understanding of the political implications of technology. Melis Bas argues that technologies play a much more significant role in politics than just exerting power over individuals. They condition, frame, create, and organize politics. Through the lens of Hannah Arendt's political hermeneutics, Bas illuminates the interactional relationship between technology and politics, thus enabling an understanding of politics beyond its manifestation as power. Furthermore, Arendt's understanding of intersubjectivity-based as it is on a dynamic relationship between the self, the world, and other people-leaves room to examine the associated role of material conditions. Developing an alternative framework of politics of technology based on Arendt's political theory requires a perspective on technology that can address how the world becomes politically meaningful.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
4 bw illus
File size
2,13 MB
ISBN-13
979-8-216-25957-2 (9798216259572)
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
Book
approx. 06/2026
Rowman & Littlefield
€126.48
Not yet published
Person
Melis Bas is Lecturer in New Media and Digital Culture at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Content
Introduction: Technology, Power, and Politics
0.1.Politics of Technology
0.2.Technology and Power
0.3.Questioning Power
0.4.A Viable Alternative: Issues and Dingpolitik
0.5.Hannah Arendt: A Guide for a New Political Mediation Theory
0.6.Technological Mediation
0.7.Outline
Part I
1.Politics as Interaction: Hannah Arendt and Political Theory
1.1.Plato's Transformation of the Polis
1.2.Vita Activa
1.3.Features of Politics
1.4.Conclusion
2.Arendt, Phenomenology, and Technology
2.1.Hermeneutic Phenomenology of the Political
2.2.Common World and Worldliness
2.3.Technology in Arendt's Work
2.4.Cultural Products of Homo Faber
2.5.Conclusion
Part II
3.Technological Mediation of Common Sense
3.1.From Phenomenology to Postphenomenology
3.2.Empirical Exlorations
3.3.Gezi Park and Technological Mediation of Common Sense
3.4.Conclusion
4.Technological Mediation of Intersubjectivity
4.1.Political Subjectivity and Intersubjectivity
4.2.The Polis-Making of Gezi Park
4.3.Technological Mediation of Intersubjectivity
4.4.Technopolitical Mediation
4.5.Technopolitical Mediation on Social Media
4.6.Conclusion
Conclusion
5.1.Revisiting the Moses Bridges With Technopolitical Mediation
References
Index
0.1.Politics of Technology
0.2.Technology and Power
0.3.Questioning Power
0.4.A Viable Alternative: Issues and Dingpolitik
0.5.Hannah Arendt: A Guide for a New Political Mediation Theory
0.6.Technological Mediation
0.7.Outline
Part I
1.Politics as Interaction: Hannah Arendt and Political Theory
1.1.Plato's Transformation of the Polis
1.2.Vita Activa
1.3.Features of Politics
1.4.Conclusion
2.Arendt, Phenomenology, and Technology
2.1.Hermeneutic Phenomenology of the Political
2.2.Common World and Worldliness
2.3.Technology in Arendt's Work
2.4.Cultural Products of Homo Faber
2.5.Conclusion
Part II
3.Technological Mediation of Common Sense
3.1.From Phenomenology to Postphenomenology
3.2.Empirical Exlorations
3.3.Gezi Park and Technological Mediation of Common Sense
3.4.Conclusion
4.Technological Mediation of Intersubjectivity
4.1.Political Subjectivity and Intersubjectivity
4.2.The Polis-Making of Gezi Park
4.3.Technological Mediation of Intersubjectivity
4.4.Technopolitical Mediation
4.5.Technopolitical Mediation on Social Media
4.6.Conclusion
Conclusion
5.1.Revisiting the Moses Bridges With Technopolitical Mediation
References
Index
