Happy Caregiver Exploitation Day; Bacteria to AI; Extinction
An essay by Elvira Basevich; an event with N. Katherine Hayles; a new reading group
Dear all,
Happy Mother’s Day to all you mothers out there, and a second Happy Mother’s Day to all those who were celebrated back in March! In true philosophical form, today’s Sunday Read uses Mother’s Day as an opportunity to raise questions about the ways in which the failure of the state to provide basic resources for needy families continues to coerce new generations of girls into assuming an exploitative caregiving role. Enjoy!
Your Sunday Read
“Happy Caregiver Exploitation Day”: an essay by Elvira Basevich
In this deeply personal essay, Elvira Basevich considers the yearly celebration of Mother’s Day in light of her own experience of being forced into a caregiving role for her three younger siblings. Basevich looks at questions related to justice, social mobility, reproductive rights, and much more in this powerful exploration of the ways in which the failure of the state to provide basic resources for needy families continues to coerce the next generation of girls into assuming an exploitative caregiving role. You can read her essay here.
Elvira requested Family Portrait 1 (1915) by Florine Stettheimer as the main image to accompany her essay:
Monday Event: 11am PT/2pm ET/7pm UK
“Bacteria to AI: Human Futures with Our Nonhuman Symbionts”
N. Katherine Hayles with Audrey Borowski
After last week’s superb conversation with Leif Weatherby, our AI series continues tomorrow with N. Katherine Hayles, one of the most influential contemporary writers on posthumanism.
Arguably, AI is the most important cultural adaptation since the invention of language, and it is moving ahead at light speed – way beyond our ability to regulate or even comprehend it. This discussion will explain the basics of the Transformer architecture that powers ChatGPT and similar AIs, and explore their implications for our collective futures and political processes. You can find out more and register here.
“On Extinction” Reading Group
As announced last week, we have another reading group coming up. There are only a few places left, so don’t delay in signing up!
This group will read and discuss Ben Ware’s recently published book, On Extinction: Beginning Again at the End (Verso, 2024). It will be facilitated by Nishok G U and Kate Warlow-Corcoran, and it is free to join.
Dates and Times:
Weekly from Tuesday 28 May to Tuesday 25 June 2024
10am ET/3pm UK/4pm CET/7:30pm India (on Zoom)
Each session will last 90 minutes
In the final meeting on Tuesday 25 June, we will be joined by the author for a Q & A session.
Find out more and sign up here.
Ending
Through becoming a supporter via Patreon, you can get all our print issues sent to you, enjoy priority access and discounted rates for our groups/classes, join philosophical discussions with our editorial team, and more. The income we generate via Patreon helps us to keep our events series free and to pay our contributors. You can find out more and become a member here.
Wishing you all a lovely Sunday, wherever you are.
Anthony Morgan and Andie Cook
Newsletter Team