Seven Stories of Threatening Speech

Women's Suffrage Meets Machine Code

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, Politics, History & Theory, Social Science, Gender Studies, Women&
Cover of the book Seven Stories of Threatening Speech by Ruth A Miller, University of Michigan Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Ruth A Miller ISBN: 9780472027781
Publisher: University of Michigan Press Publication: November 16, 2011
Imprint: University of Michigan Press Language: English
Author: Ruth A Miller
ISBN: 9780472027781
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
Publication: November 16, 2011
Imprint: University of Michigan Press
Language: English

Ruth A. Miller demonstrates the potential of taking nonhuman linguistic activity—such as the running of machine code—as an analytical model. Via a lively discussion of 19th-century pro- and antisuffragists, Miller tells a new computational story in which language becomes a thing that executes physically or mechanically through systems, networks, and environments, rather than a form for human recognition or representation. Language might be better understood as something that operates but never communicates, that sorts, stores, or reproduces information but never transmits meaning. Miller makes a compelling case that the work that speech has historically done is in need of reevaluation. She severs the link between language and human as well as nonhuman agency, between speech acts and embodiment, and she demonstrates that current theories of electoral politics have missed a key issue: the nonhuman, informational character of threatening linguistic activity.

This book thus represents a radical methodological initiative not just for scholars of history and language but for specialists in law, political theory, political science, gender studies, semiotics, and science and technology studies. It takes posthumanist scholarship to an exciting and essential, if sometimes troubling, conclusion.

“It is an erudite work by a scholar of enormous talent, who advances a thesis that is richly insightful and deeply provocative.”
—Mary Hawkesworth, Rutgers University

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Ruth A. Miller demonstrates the potential of taking nonhuman linguistic activity—such as the running of machine code—as an analytical model. Via a lively discussion of 19th-century pro- and antisuffragists, Miller tells a new computational story in which language becomes a thing that executes physically or mechanically through systems, networks, and environments, rather than a form for human recognition or representation. Language might be better understood as something that operates but never communicates, that sorts, stores, or reproduces information but never transmits meaning. Miller makes a compelling case that the work that speech has historically done is in need of reevaluation. She severs the link between language and human as well as nonhuman agency, between speech acts and embodiment, and she demonstrates that current theories of electoral politics have missed a key issue: the nonhuman, informational character of threatening linguistic activity.

This book thus represents a radical methodological initiative not just for scholars of history and language but for specialists in law, political theory, political science, gender studies, semiotics, and science and technology studies. It takes posthumanist scholarship to an exciting and essential, if sometimes troubling, conclusion.

“It is an erudite work by a scholar of enormous talent, who advances a thesis that is richly insightful and deeply provocative.”
—Mary Hawkesworth, Rutgers University

More books from University of Michigan Press

Cover of the book Science Fiction in Argentina by Ruth A Miller
Cover of the book Character Is Destiny by Ruth A Miller
Cover of the book Czars in the White House by Ruth A Miller
Cover of the book Embedded Politics by Ruth A Miller
Cover of the book Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings in the U.S. Senate by Ruth A Miller
Cover of the book Waiting for Cancer to Come by Ruth A Miller
Cover of the book The Regional Roots of Russia's Political Regime by Ruth A Miller
Cover of the book Russia's Legal Fictions by Ruth A Miller
Cover of the book The End of Normal by Ruth A Miller
Cover of the book Utopia in Performance by Ruth A Miller
Cover of the book Private Guns, Public Health, New Ed. by Ruth A Miller
Cover of the book Alienation Effects by Ruth A Miller
Cover of the book Constituting Workers, Protecting Women by Ruth A Miller
Cover of the book India China by Ruth A Miller
Cover of the book Lewd and Notorious by Ruth A Miller
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy