Proxy Politics: Power and Subversion in a Networked Age

by Research Center for Proxy Politics (Editor)

The proxy, decoy or surrogate is today often used to designate a computer server acting as an intermediary for requests from clients. Originating in the Latin procurator—an agent representing others in a court of law—proxies are now emblematic of a post-democratic political age, one increasingly populated by bot militias, puppet states, and communication relays. The proxy works as a dialectical figure that is woven into the fabric of networks, where action and stance seem to be masked,
calculated, and remote-controlled. This poignant new publication investigates proxy-politics on both a micro and a macro level, exploring proxies and networks as objects. What is the relation between the molecular and the planetary? How do we fathom the computational regime? While being a manifestation of the networked age, thinking like a proxy offers loopholes and strategies for survival within it. The book features essays by Hito Steyerl, Tom McCarthy, Kodwo Eshun, Goldin+Senneby, Brian Holmes, Nick Houde, Jonathan Jung, Laura Katzauer, Boaz Levin, Mikk Madisson, Doreen Mende, Sondra Perry, Oleksiy Radynski, Robert Rapoport, thricedotted, Vera
Tollmann, and Miloš Trakilovic.

256 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2018