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Posthuman and Relational Approaches: Bringing Dualist Ontology, Cuts, and Relations in Legal Research

Pierre Walckiers
This contribution introduces posthuman and relational theories as a critical methodological approach to law. Situated at the intersection of critiques of Western humanism and anthropocentrism, posthuman legal approaches challenge power dynamics both among humans and between humans and non-humans, extending the critique of law as objective, neutral, and detached from social context. By also critiquing the dualist ontology of law, which operates through ontological separations (between humans and non-humans, subject and object), posthuman approaches provide a framework to develop relational theory. Following an overview of the philosophical foundations of posthuman and relational approaches, as well as their methods for legal analysis, this article explores how these theories enable a better mapping of the interactions between human and non-human entities in law by examining relational continuums.

Perception de l’intelligence artificielle générative : une esthétique posthumaniste de la créativité

François Giard
This article offers a posthumanist reading of the predominantly negative perception surrounding generative artificial intelligence (GAI) in contemporary creative ecosystems. Drawing on a body of empirical studies on labeling bias and cognitive distortions in the reception of AI-generated artworks, we argue that the current resistance does not stem from an intrinsic aesthetic weakness in computational productions, but from an ontological framework deeply rooted in humanism. This framework links creativity to an autonomous, intentional, and sovereign human subject—a position now challenged by the emergence of non-human actors endowed with manifest generative capacities. Adopting a perspective inspired by posthumanist theories we show that GAI does not create a radical rupture but rather reveals a long-occluded fact: creativity has always been a distributed, mediated, and co-produced phenomenon emerging from hybrid networks where humans, technologies, infrastructures, imaginaries, and environments intertwine. From this viewpoint, the negativity toward GAI appears as a symptom of a collective narcissistic wound, a defense of human exceptionalism against the recognition of our profound entanglement with the non-human. The article concludes by exploring how such a perspective calls for a rethinking of artistic institutions, criticism, and pedagogy toward a more inclusive and accurate ecology of creation.

When “Beyond-Human” is “Becoming-Human”: An Ustopian Paradox in Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake

Amrita Bakshi
This article explores Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake as a critical site for interrogating posthumanist ontology and biotechnological futurity. Engaging Chien-Hung Chen’s theorization of “becoming-human” in the Anthropocene and Atwood’s own term “ustopia,” the essay examines how Crake’s ecotopian vision—a genetically reengineered humanity purged of aggression and desire—unravels into a recursive dystopia. Despite their engineered docility, the Crakers evolve symbolic consciousness and ritual, reintroducing anthropocentric hierarchies through myth and narrative. Snowman’s manipulative storytelling reinscribes human power dynamics, complicating the supposed rupture from Homo sapiens. Drawing on Freud, Darwin, and biopolitical critique, the paper argues that posthuman subjectivity cannot escape the ethical and symbolic infrastructures of the human. Oryx and Crake thus becomes a posthuman parable, where attempts to transcend human flaw reinstantiate it, destabilizing linear notions of progress and exposing the entangled fictions of species, power, and survival.

Cinema after the Human: Robotics, AI, and Posthuman Narratives on Screen

Mourad El Fahli
This article explores the way in which contemporary film engages posthumanism through robotic, artificial intelligence, and cyborg subjectivities. Drawing on the critical perspectives of Rosi Braidotti, Donna Haraway, and N. Katherine Hayles, the study examines how films such as Ex Machina (2014), and Blade Runner 2049 (2017) interrogate the boundaries of human/non-human existence. Rather than simply representing techno-utopian or dystopian visions, the films stage philosophical and ethical interrogations into consciousness, embodiment, memory, and agency. By rendering non-human viewpoints ontologically prominent and evading anthropocentric assumptions, posthuman cinema both reflects and generates cultural anxieties about technological change, biopolitics, and environmental catastrophe.

Posthumanism Research Institute: 10 year celebration: Transcript of the interview of Christine Daigle by Elizabeth Neswald and Trevor Norris

Elizabeth Neswald and Trevor Norris

Dés/apprentissages

Stéphane Herbrechter

Symbionts: Contemporary Artists and the Biosphere

Claudia Goodgoll

Symbiotic Posthumanist Ecologies in Western Literature, Philosophy and Art: Towards Theory and Practice (2023)

Shruti Das