On Posthuman War: Computation and Military Violence

On Posthuman War explores how war has expanded beyond traditional battlefields to encompass the concept of the human being itself, focusing on three human-focused disciplines that have intertwined since 9/11: demography, anthropology, and neuroscience. It demonstrates how the human being has been reconstituted from a neutral citizen to an unwitting combatant, and how social activities have been weaponized against the very notion of society. The book offers insights into the latest war technologies, strategies, and tactics while engaging in questions that challenge the foundations of modern political thought.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 248 pages
Publication date: 05 August 2022
Publisher: University of Minnesota Press

As military and other forms of political violence become the planetary norm, On Posthuman War traces the expansion of war beyond traditional theaters of battle. Drawing on counterinsurgency field manuals, tactical manifestos, data-driven military theory, and asymmetrical-war archives, Mike Hill delineates new "Areas of Operation" within a concept of the human being as not only a social and biological entity but also a technical one.

Delving into three human-focused disciplines newly turned against humanity, On Posthuman War reveals how demography, anthropology, and neuroscience have intertwined since 9/11 amid the "Revolution in Military Affairs." Beginning with the author's personal experience training with U.S. Marine recruits at Parris Island, Hill gleans insights from realist philosophy, the new materialism, and computational theory to show how the human being, per se, has been reconstituted from neutral citizen to unwitting combatant. As evident in the call for "bullets, beans, and data," whatever can be parted out, counted, and reassembled can become war materiel. Hill shows how visible and invisible wars within identity, community, and cognition shift public-sphere activities, like racial identification, group organization, and even thought itself, in the direction of war. This shift has weaponized social activities against the very notion of society.

On Posthuman War delivers insights on the latest war technologies, strategies, and tactics while engaging in questions poised to overturn the foundations of modern political thought.

Dimension: 216 x 140 x 25 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780816660902