Nonhuman Witnessing, War; Data; and Ecology after the End of the World

Author

Richardson; Michael

Year

2024

Publisher

Duke University Press

Language

English

Pages

ISBN

978-1-47802-778-2

Link

Last Update

07-Feb-2026

Keywords

Sociology ; Communication Studies ; Political Science

Description

TWO MQ-9 REAPERS confront each other nose to nose, simulated aerial vehicles floating above simulated mountainous country. Light bends across the mirrored surface of one; the other is gray and black, a digital replica of its physical counterpart. Interspersed by spinning reflective planes and suspended in inscrutable contemplation, the two machines seem possessed of their own needs and desires. What takes place in this communion of militarized drones? While the drone skinned in military tones and textures is disconcerting if familiar, the mirrored drone is both alluringly beautiful and horrifyingly alien, an other-than-human object across which the gaze slides and...