From self-help books and nootropics, to self-tracking and home health tests, to the tinkering with technology and biological particles – biohacking brings biology, medicine, and the material foundation of life into the sphere of »do-it-yourself«. This trend has the potential to fundamentally change people's relationship with their bodies and biology but it also creates new cultural narratives of responsibility, authority, and differentiation. Covering a broad range of examples, this book explores practices and representations of biohacking in popular culture, discussing their ambiguous position between empowerment and requirement, promise and prescription.
Price: $40.00
Pages: 314
Publisher: transcript publishing
Imprint: transcript publishing
Series: American Culture Studies
Publication Date:
27 December 2021
Trim Size: 9.45 X 6.10 in
ISBN: 9783837660043
Format: Paperback
BISACs:
LITERARY CRITICISM / American / General, POLITICAL SCIENCE / History & Theory, MEDICAL / General
Mirjam Grewe-Salfeld, born in 1991, is a researcher in literary and cultural studies. She received her PhD from the Department of American Studies at Universität Potsdam. Her research interests include the cultural representation and history of medicine, body studies and biotechnology.
Frontmatter 1
Contents 5
Preface: Amidst a Global Pandemic 7
1 Introduction: Biotechnologies, Bodies and Biomakers 17
2 Biology and Culture - an Overview of the Field 33
3 The Promise of Small Things - The Cultural Presence of (Molecular) Biology 75
4 With my Own two Hands - Tracing DIY from Individualism to Maker Culture 97
5 'Hacking' Life Itself - In Pursuit of a Definition 129
6 iambulletproof - A Layperson's Guide to Self-Enhancement 137
7 A Pill for Every Ill - Drugs and Supplements 155
8 Test Yourself - Making the Invisible Visible 175
9 Homo Technologicus? - The Technological Self, Inside Out 197
10 "The Human Need to Fiddle" - Tinkering with Technology 217
11 Discussing DIY 241
12 Conclusion: Between Politics and Promise 281
Works Cited 291
