BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//events.la.psu.edu//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20201101T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=11;BYDAY=1SU END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20200308T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=2SU END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:3318-dc557530a943bcf3368f444c7327553c@events.la.psu.edu DTSTAMP:20260531T124220Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230419T153000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230419T170000 SUMMARY:\"Drone Publics\" DESCRIPTION:How do drone technologies imagine an automated public sphere ? This talk analyzes early experiments with drone aircraft to show how a utomation and machine autonomy are predicated on the paradox of unmannin g: pilotless planes are defined by the "\;man"\; the technology claims to negate. This is highlighted in the ways race and colonialism a re enmeshed with early drone experiments. I detail these through two arc hives: the autobiography of an American drone pilot from World War II\, self-published with the title "\;American Kamikaze"\; in 1984\, and the scrapbook from a photographic unit for Operation Crossroads\, wh ich tested drones for aerial filming during nuclear weapons tests in 194 6. The "\;superiority"\; of the drone in World War II was imagin ed against the "\;inhumanity"\; of the Japanese military and the removal of Marshall Islanders from Bikini Atoll. These accounts positio n the "\;evolution"\; of early drone technology in relation to t he "\;kamikaze"\; or "\;savage."\; That neither drone sy stem functioned did little to uncouple its supposed technological advant age from the ascendancy America claimed in the Pacific. These early expe riments lead to a reconsideration of contemporary drone use\, indicating how targeted killing continues to conflate and overlay technological ad vances with moral superiority and political legitimacy. By emphasizing h ow unmanning is defined by a particular ideal of "\;man\,"\; I r ethink the drone as an expression of global inequalities that contempora ry automation reflects and exacerbates. I argue that a closer engagement with the human actions that make drone warfare can challenge and transf orm the myth of a machine-like world that unmanning upholds.\n\n \;\ n\nSpeaker bio:\n\n \;\n\nKatherine Chandler is an assistant profess or of Culture and Politics in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetow n University. Her research studies how technology and media create infra structures that reinforce\, challenge and transform the nation-state and a global public. She uses theories and methods from science and technol ogy studies\, media theory\, geography\, political theory and art practi ce. Her first book\, Unmanning: How Humans\, Machines and Media Perform Drone Warfare\, was published in 2020 by Rutgers University Press. \n\nF or more details: https://events.la.psu.edu/event/drone_publics/ X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

How do drone technologies imagine an automated public sphere? This talk analyzes early experiments with drone aircraft to show how automat ion and machine autonomy are predicated on the paradox of unmanning: pil otless planes are defined by the "man" the technology claims t o negate. This is highlighted in the ways race and colonialism are enmes hed with early drone experiments. I detail these through two archives: t he autobiography of an American drone pilot from World War II, self-publ ished with the title "American Kamikaze" in 1984, and the scra pbook from a photographic unit for Operation Crossroads, which tested dr ones for aerial filming during nuclear weapons tests in 1946. The " superiority" of the drone in World War II was imagined against the "inhumanity" of the Japanese military and the removal of Marsh all Islanders from Bikini Atoll. These accounts position the "evolu tion" of early drone technology in relation to the "kamikaze&q uot; or "savage." That neither drone system functioned did lit tle to uncouple its supposed technological advantage from the ascendancy America claimed in the Pacific. These early experiments lead to a recon sideration of contemporary drone use, indicating how targeted killing co ntinues to conflate and overlay technological advances with moral superi ority and political legitimacy. By emphasizing how unmanning is defined by a particular ideal of "man," I rethink the drone as an expr ession of global inequalities that contemporary automation reflects and exacerbates. I argue that a closer engagement with the human actions tha t make drone warfare can challenge and transform the myth of a machine-l ike world that unmanning upholds.

 

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Katherine Chandler is an assistant professor of Culture and Politics in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown Uni versity. Her research studies how technology and media create infrastruc tures that reinforce, challenge and transform the nation-state and a glo bal public. She uses theories and methods from science and technology st udies, media theory, geography, political theory and art practice. Her f irst book, Unmanning: How Humans, Machines and Media Perform Drone Warfa re, was published in 2020 by Rutgers University Press.

For more d etails: https:/ /events.la.psu.edu/event/drone_publics/

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