Transhumanism as a new social movement : the techno-centred imagination / by James Michael MacFarlane.

Intro
Contents
Chapter 1: The Transhuman Condition: Science Slightly over the Edge?
1.1 Background for Study
1.2 Motivations/Key Contributions
1.2.1 Motivations
1.2.2 Key Contributions
1.3 Overview of Thesis
References
Chapter 2: Moving Beyond Humanism: A Review of Literature
2.1 Self-Identity, Framing and Narrative in 'New' Social Movement Theory
2.1.1 'New' Social Movement Theory: A Post-War Paradigmatic Shift Towards Identity
2.1.2 'New' Social Movement Analysis: Framing, Narrative and the ARRR Model
Framing Theory/Narrative Analysis The ARRR Classification Scheme of Social Movement Objectives
2.2 Contested Transhumanisms: Internal Versus External Histories
2.2.1 Prelude: 'Proto-transhumanists' and Etymology of the Term Transhumanism
2.2.2 From Evolutionary View to Philosophical Position: The Formalisation of Transhumanist-Extropianism in the 1990s
2.3 Mobilisations: Techno-Utopian Collective Action Frames?
2.3.1 Early Transhumanist Organisations in the Twenty-First Century: 1998-2008
2.3.2 Party Politicisation of Transhumanism: 2014-Present 2.3.3 Technologised Collective Action Frames and Science as a Social Movement
2.4 Conclusions
References
Chapter 3: Methods and Methodology
3.1 Conceptual Framework: Imagining the 'Unsited Field'
3.1.1 'Doing' Multi-sited Ethnographically Inspired Work
3.1.2 Selections: Choosing Sites and Subjects
3.2 Research Practice: Moving Between Sites and Subjects
3.2.1 Overview of Fieldwork Activities
3.2.2 Interventions
3.3 Processing Data: Crafting an Analytic Narrative
3.3.1 Principles of Analysis
3.3.2 Method of Analysis
3.4 Conclusions
References Chapter 4: Constituents
4.1 Demographics: The Presentation of Self in Offline/Online Spaces
4.1.1 The Range of Constituents: Observed
4.1.2 The Range: Self-Described
4.2 Memetic Travel and Standards: Networked Propagation of an Idea (l) ..
4.2.1 Memetic Travel
4.2.2 Standards
4.3 Affinity: Boundaries, Inclusivity and Social Integration
4.3.1 Boundaries
4.3.2 Inclusivity
4.4 Conclusions
References
Chapter 5: Mobilisations
5.1 TELOS: Modelling the 'Objectivisation' of Human Enhancement
5.1.1 Networked Advocate Taxonomy of THE 5.2 IN POTENTIA: The Possibilities Inscribed Within Technology
5.2.1 The Three S's
Super-Intelligence
Super-Longevity
Super-Wellbeing
5.3 VIA: Travelling Through, En Route
5.3.1 Continuity Versus Cessation
5.3.2 Milestones
5.4 TECHNE: The Artful 'Craft' of Transhumanism
5.4.1 The Importance of Public Image
5.4.2 THEA as Techno-Humanistic Narrative-Building
5.5 Conclusions
References
Chapter 6: Politics
6.1 ATROPHY: The Disintegration and Inertia of Contemporary Politics
6.1.1 Inadequacy of Party Politics
6.1.2 Relevance of Party Politics?

This book explores Technological Human Enhancement Advocacy through ethnographically inspired participant observation across a range of sites. James Michael MacFarlane argues that such advocacy is characterized by 'Techno-centrism, ' a belief grounded in today's world while being also future-oriented and drawn from the imagination. This blurring of 'real' and 'imagined' futures borrows from the materialist grounding of the scientific worldview, while granting extended license to visions for technology as an enabler of forward-facing action, which include reviving humanist ideals associated with the modernization project. While Techno-centrism is arguably most pronounced in transhumanism-where it is acted-out in extreme, almost hyperbolic ways-it reflects more generally held, deep-seeded concerns around the future of science, technology and human self-identity in the new millennium. Far from being new, these emerging social forms capture unresolved ambivalences which have long cast a shadow over late-modern society and culture