Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores fictional configurations of the posthumanly monstrous as the flip side of neoliberal fantasies of biopolitical perfection. It develops a vision of human bodies which, instead of relying on the skin as a border to be proofed at all cost, immerse themselves in the interlinked cells of human and non-human organic matter. The book focuses on atmospheres of affect and currents of implication creates an alternative vision to the notion of the traumatic event, which, puncturing boundaries, only unleashed a politics of revenge and violent pre-emption. It also seeks to respond to and further develop current critical tendencies in the field of political literature. The book also explores the possibility of a more sustainable politics, concurring with Val Plumwood that this would require us to let go of the tendency to “hyperseparate” ourselves from nature.