Technopolitical Mediation

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.

Author Biography

Melis Bas is Lecturer in New Media and Digital Culture at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.