Dass Kinder unsere Zukunft sind, ist ein Allgemeinplatz. Diese vermeintliche Selbstverständlichkeit nimmt die vorliegende Arbeit zum Anlass, um danach zu fragen, wo und wie Zukünftiges tatsächlich eine Rolle für kindliche und elterliche Alltage spielt. So geht diese ethnografische Studie zweier Krabbelgruppen der Frage nach, wie sowohl Kindheiten als auch Zukünfte innerhalb konkreter Praktiken erst als solche hervorgebracht werden, und zeichnet hierfür unterschiedliche Relationen zwischen diesen beiden Phänomenen nach. Welchen Anteil haben neben den elterlichen auch die kindlichen Akteur*innen sowie nicht-menschliche Andere an diesen Prozessen? Wann und wie werden in der Auseinandersetzung mit Kindheiten neben Zukünften auch Vergangenheiten und Gegenwarten (relevant) gemacht – wann von wem wie Zeitlichkeit hervorgebracht? Ein Zusammendenken von praxistheoretischen Perspektiven der Future Studies mit Konzepten der NaturenKulturenforschung und der Neuen Kindheitsforschung erlaubt es Alexandra Hammer, kleinkindliche Entwicklung als immer auch non-lineares, lebendiges und situatives Unterfangen sichtbar zu machen und zugleich die produktive Rolle dieser jungen Akteur*innen und nichtmenschlicher Anderer aufzuzeigen. / Children are our future. Taking that notion as a starting point, this thesis asks how and when future/s are in fact relevant for the everyday lives of toddlers and their parents. Based on the ethnographic study of two parents‘ and toddler’s groups, it explores the tangible practices through which childhoods and futures are brought to life. What role do the parents, children, and non-human others play in these practices? When and how are not only futures but also pasts and presents made relevant while addressing childhoods – how is time enacted in these situations? This study combines more-than-human or posthumanist perspectives, new childhood studies, and a practice-theoretical approach to future studies, which allows Alexandra Hammer to narrate children’s becomings as non-linear, situated, and vital ventures. Moreover, this study visualizes the productive role of children and non-human others in these processes of making time in particular and worlding in general.

This master thesis deals with the topic of the relationship between man and technology, which is represented by cyborg characters in visual culture. The aim is to create a stereotype of individual cyborg characters from selected cyber-punk works, on the basis of which I can reflect the vision and ideas of the relationship between the organic and technical in the future world. This work is divided into four chapters - the first chapter focuses on cyber-punk as a sub-genre of sci-fi, in the second I define the cyborg character and the postmodern theoretical background, which are related to the cyborg, in the third chapter I present the theoretical basis for the analysis of characters and specify methodological procedures, in the final chapter I analyze the individual works.

The main focus of this diploma thesis is picturing ethnicity and race of "non-humans" in first two series of science fiction series Star Trek: The Next Generation, Battlestar Galactica a Defiance. It is based on the postcolonialistic theory, which is dealing with the dominant relationship of the colonist over the colonized. This relationship was created between western civilization colonists and native inhabitants of newly discovered territories. In the case of science fiction, the "non- humans" are in the position of colonized and humans in the position of colonists. Some space is also given to the posthumanistic theory of a creature being based on combination of both biological and mechanical parts. The chosen series are examined through the method of quantitative content analysis. It has been shown, that humans in science fiction are the race, from which the picturing of all other "non-human" races is derived. Also, in most cases, humans are the race superior to other races, which is shown in various fashion. Values accepted by today's western society are presented as values of all human kind. From these values, the perception of "non-humans" and their societies is derived. Science fiction is also mirroring the problems western society had during its beginnings.

In this thesis I analyze and problematize Francis Fukuyama's position on posthumanism, largely expressed in his 2002 book Our Posthuman Future. In it he warns against the likely negative outcome of a potential biotechnological revolution, which could enable easy access to interfering with human genome via practices such as genetic modification or human cloning. Fukuyama's major assumption is that all members of society must meet some limited standards of humanity in order to be equal, because if people acquire different levels of artificially altered "human natures," the outcome will be stratification, irrecuperable inequality and perhaps even class warfare. For this reason, Fukuyama calls for a pre-emptive regulation of genetic manipulation so as to avoid a "posthuman future." I contrast this theory with a selection of transhumanist and feminist theorists as well as with examples from fiction, namely the trilogy Lilith's Brood (1987-1989) by Octavia Butler and the novel Never Let Me Go (2005) by Kazuo Ishiguro. Drawing on these sources I conclude that Fukuyama's position is harmfully exclusionary and divisive; and also counter- productive in the sense that in his pursuit of securing freedom and equality he renders potential posthuman subjects fundamentally inferior, thus principally defeating his...

My diploma thesis follows the unfinished EGBA cycle, which started in late October 2016. The name EGBA is the result of the uncertainty, anxiety and loss of trust in man as a healthy individual. I see the EGBA project as a candy with a filling, the content of which is composed of taste that influences one another. Even though it's a great advertisement, the great packaging itself looks great, the candy itself is inedible. The first of the mixed tastes is the term postcapitalism, as a constantly persistent system of capitalism, which, despite all possible peripetions, can not and does not overcome. Despite the growing interconnection of influential entrepreneurs with the state apparatus into the incomprehensible web of ties and relationships associated with deepening financial inequality among people, high indebtedness of countries, degrading environment, etc. The second taste is the temporality in which I am the primary acceleration as an alleged tool of progress. Accelerating is a long-term process that comes with modern times as a result of the Industrial Revolution. Today's time brings us a freneticly fragmented reality in which we try to squeeze as many acts or performances as possible into shorter time intervals. Speed has become a sign of success, so it's no surprise that many of us end up on the pill of hope as it is clear that our biorhythm can not be stretched indefinitely. The current, accelerated society can be likened to a swamp. The faster it rotates its gear, the faster it sinks in the liquid period. The third taste is posthumanism, which we have achieved by constantly simplifying and reducing the problems that nature poses before us. This relief has led us to create a machine that is so effective in reducing it, that it also creates its own problems. Technology keeps coming close to us, constantly evolving new technological advances that are increasingly "more sophisticated, useful and smarter". The inconspicuous disappearance of human nature gradually transforms into the form of Thésa's ship. The fourth taste is anthropocene. The theme of anthropocene circulated most of the news channels. Yes, it is serious and undeniable, although in many conspiracy theories it is completely misunderstood, for example, the blue, not the green palette, Donald's tricks, etc. In short, a long-term game of chess, man versus nature seems to be more advantageous for blacks. The last ingredient is a binder named Internet, like saliva flowing through all of these tastes. All of these candy essences are frustrating for me, and the best solution to me was the theme of apocalypse in my previous work. Dystopic thinking, however, does not last long and I have begun to overflow the hopes of hope that it could all have some positive effect. So if I come somewhere to see a bowl of candy, I will not hesitate and taste it. Most of these are places where it is necessary to wait, to withstand, or to buy something, so I will enjoy plenty of time and quiet to enjoy the tastes of candy and wait for the rainbow.

This thesis offers a critical reflection of posthumanism as seen through the perspectives of performance art. The first part of the text discusses the onset and development of posthumanism as a philosophical and cultural movement focused on the gradual convergence of the human and technology. The following second part then presents a reflection of thus conceptualized posthumanism in performance art. Posthumanism is conceived as a movement on the border between serious scientific discourse and fiction: Based on the mathematical theory of communication, as well as the legacy of cyberpunk dystopia, posthumanism offers a vision of a transition from human to the so called posthuman. The posthuman is seen as an offspring of technoculture, the synthesis of living and artificial, a loosely evolving entity without fixed ontological boundaries. The existence of the posthuman lies beyond dualistic categorization, has a processual character and refuses any essentialist approach. It is an attractive subject of science-fiction stories and a sexy postmodern slogan, but it is also a symbol of a transgression of actual predestinating categories such as race, gender or social status. More than anything else, posthuman is primarily a metaphor, adopted by a variety of narratives focused on the potential aspects of...

In recent years, there has been a pronounced (re-)turn to questions of ontology, matter, and realism in the humanities and social sciences. What all these theoretical formations have in common is their profound challenge to human exceptionalism. Taken together, these approaches have productively been described as constituting a “nonhuman turn.” This article is a theoretical exploration of the relationship between the intellectual and political practice of Cultural Studies on the one hand and the nonhuman turn on the other. For this purpose, it brings both “into encounter” (Donna Haraway), investigating points of affinity, tension, and compatibility. The essay argues that such a theoretical encounter could prove to be tremendously fruitful, both intellectually and politically, and that Cultural Studies should thus take a genuine interest in these new approaches, engage with them, put them to the test, and, when needed, “translate” and “re-articulate” them. The result could be a Cultural Studies for the Anthropocene which would have a lot to contribute to the critical (cultural/political/social/economic) struggles being fought today.

This thesis is concerned with an analysis of how David Foster Wallace's treatment of technology defines his understanding of the self in late 20th-century and early 21st-century America. With a primary focus on how this understanding evolved between the publication of his major novel Infinite Jest (1996) and his posthumously published unfinished novel The Pale King (2011), this thesis also takes into consideration Wallace's ideas as expressed through his many short stories, non-fiction works, and critical essays, most prominently "E Unibus Pluram: Television and U.S. Fiction" (1993). This thesis first briefly places Wallace in the context of contemporary literary scholarship, evaluating the state and extent of the nascent field of Wallace Studies. It then proceeds to examine and map out the philosophical underpinnings to Wallace's conception of the self, emphasising the importance of existential thought and the notion that the self is to be created rather than pre-existing in the individual. Technology as it is presented in Infinite Jest and The Pale King is then examined in relation to this philosophical understanding of the self, proving itself consistently to be an impediment to the existential self-becoming valorised in the novels. Wallace's early interest in entertainment technology as...

Our impact on the planet's functioning has allegedly become so profound that during the last years the scientific community has been considering assuming a shift from the Holocene - our current geological epoch - to the Anthropocene, the Age of Man. According to philosopher Bernard Stiegler, this "era of Humans" is not only visible in the devastation of natural ecosystems, but also through the destruction of human skills and methods of transmitting knowledge. The Anthropocene, which was initiated by the industrial revolution, thus passed through the industrialization of culture, and has disrupted our understanding of the world. Philosopher Rosi Braidotti proposes that with the advent of this new era, we ought to be aware of not only the ever-present environmental catastrophes, but that we also ought to use it as a tool for reappraising what it means to be Human. According to her, the Western subject was created as a product of the Humanist cultural hegemony which defined it within a logic of binary opposition. In light of these ideas, this Master's thesis attempts to show that art can provide us methods for redefining our relationship to each other, as well as to the wider world, and help us navigate the contours of the ongoing crisis. The work uses Posthumanist thought and its affiliated...

My thesis titled Attributes of corporeality is a continuation of my thinking on the topic of identity. Now I approach identity as a category, not as an identity that belongs to a particular person. I consider the question of how is identity shaped in a postmodern, globalized world and how is it related to corporeality. My answer is based on the reality I know, on the current state of society. However, the intention of my work is above all to express my idea, which is rather a utopian scenario than anything else.