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Sensoria: Thinkers for the Twenty-First Century
Design, Politics, the Environment: a survey of the key thinkers and ideas that are rebuilding the world in the shadow of the anthropocene
As we face the compounded crises of late capitalism, environmental catastrophe and technological transformation, who are the thinkers and the ideas who will allow us to understand the world we live in? McKenzie Wark surveys three areas at the cutting edge of current critical thinking: design, environment, technology and introduces us to the thinking of nineteen major writers. Each chapter is a concise account of an individual thinker, providing useful context and connections to the work of the others.
The authors include: Sianne Ngai, Kodwo Eshun, Lisa Nakamura, Hito Steyerl, Yves Citton, Randy Martin, Jackie Wang, Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, Achille Mbembe, Deborah Danowich and Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, Eyal Weizman, Cory Doctorow, Benjamin Bratton, Tiziana Terranova, Keller Easterling, Jussi Parikka.
Wark argues that we are too often told that expertise is obtained by specialisation. Sensoria connects the themes and arguments across intellectual silos. They explore the edges of disciplines to show how we might know the world: through the study of culture, the different notions of how we create such things, and the impact that the machines that we devise have had upon us. The book is a vital and timely introduction to the future both as a warning but also as a road map on how we might find our way out of the current crisis.
As we face the compounded crises of late capitalism, environmental catastrophe and technological transformation, who are the thinkers and the ideas who will allow us to understand the world we live in? McKenzie Wark surveys three areas at the cutting edge of current critical thinking: design, environment, technology and introduces us to the thinking of nineteen major writers. Each chapter is a concise account of an individual thinker, providing useful context and connections to the work of the others.
The authors include: Sianne Ngai, Kodwo Eshun, Lisa Nakamura, Hito Steyerl, Yves Citton, Randy Martin, Jackie Wang, Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, Achille Mbembe, Deborah Danowich and Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, Eyal Weizman, Cory Doctorow, Benjamin Bratton, Tiziana Terranova, Keller Easterling, Jussi Parikka.
Wark argues that we are too often told that expertise is obtained by specialisation. Sensoria connects the themes and arguments across intellectual silos. They explore the edges of disciplines to show how we might know the world: through the study of culture, the different notions of how we create such things, and the impact that the machines that we devise have had upon us. The book is a vital and timely introduction to the future both as a warning but also as a road map on how we might find our way out of the current crisis.
296 pages, Paperback
First published August 18, 2020
41 people are currently reading
588 people want to read
About the author
McKenzie Wark
69 books460 followersMcKenzie Wark (she/her) is the author of A Hacker Manifesto, Gamer Theory, 50 Years of Recuperation of the Situationist International, and The Beach Beneath the Street, among other books. She teaches at the New School for Social Research and Eugene Lang College in New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 27, 2020
Second book I read from the Verso Book Club selection.
Sensoria by McKenzie Wark is a book about concepts and how to interact with them beyond strictly limited niches of expertise. In her survey mapping a wide array of topics from the Anthropocene, via geopolitics to subjectivities and algorithms, she is discussing important concepts by thinkers such as Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, Randy Martin, Kodwo Eshun and others. The book is a high speed intellectual chase, and it lost me at points throwing too many media studies theories at me at the same time. Still, the passionate plea for interdisciplinarity made me read on despite being foreign to some of the fields examined. In its worst moments it read like a lengthy, wordy review essay, but in its best parts Sensoria provided lots of food for thought on how concepts have a life beyond disciplinary boundaries and help scholars shine a new light on the young century from many more perspectives.
Sensoria by McKenzie Wark is a book about concepts and how to interact with them beyond strictly limited niches of expertise. In her survey mapping a wide array of topics from the Anthropocene, via geopolitics to subjectivities and algorithms, she is discussing important concepts by thinkers such as Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, Randy Martin, Kodwo Eshun and others. The book is a high speed intellectual chase, and it lost me at points throwing too many media studies theories at me at the same time. Still, the passionate plea for interdisciplinarity made me read on despite being foreign to some of the fields examined. In its worst moments it read like a lengthy, wordy review essay, but in its best parts Sensoria provided lots of food for thought on how concepts have a life beyond disciplinary boundaries and help scholars shine a new light on the young century from many more perspectives.
July 22, 2020
Thank you to Verso Books and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!
Available Aug 18th 2020
McKenzie Wark's "Sensoria" aims to overwhelm the brain by breaking down any and all man-made barriers to knowledge. One example is the fascinating exploration of biopolitics, which is the application of biological concepts like a genetic basis to violent behavior to push the political agenda of criminalization of young black boys under the super-predator theory. The difficulty is that Wark doesn't spend any time critiquing these theories or offering nuanced discussions, like how the research used to justify these genetic trials are often racist. Overall, the pace of this book is rapid fire and Wark jumps between topics in a frightening pace. It felt like whiplash in a way and it was definitely an experience!
Available Aug 18th 2020
McKenzie Wark's "Sensoria" aims to overwhelm the brain by breaking down any and all man-made barriers to knowledge. One example is the fascinating exploration of biopolitics, which is the application of biological concepts like a genetic basis to violent behavior to push the political agenda of criminalization of young black boys under the super-predator theory. The difficulty is that Wark doesn't spend any time critiquing these theories or offering nuanced discussions, like how the research used to justify these genetic trials are often racist. Overall, the pace of this book is rapid fire and Wark jumps between topics in a frightening pace. It felt like whiplash in a way and it was definitely an experience!
May 1, 2021
This is one of those books that took me forever to get through because it was quite overwhelming. I haven't annotated a book this heavily since I was required to in my earlier education, and at (many) times, I had no idea what was being talked about. I would not say that this work is accessible, as it is heavy in theory and references to other works and scholars/figures are scattered on every page.
That being said, I appreciated how many different topics were covered, and as someone who admires and strives to push forward with interdisciplinarity, this was an honest attempt at it. To sum it up in a bit of a reductive manner, the best way I can describe this book is: "much to think about."
That being said, I appreciated how many different topics were covered, and as someone who admires and strives to push forward with interdisciplinarity, this was an honest attempt at it. To sum it up in a bit of a reductive manner, the best way I can describe this book is: "much to think about."
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August 30, 2020In her cute closing lines, Wark sets out the goals and purpose of Sensoria:
Most of the book qualifies as an intelligent summary with critical linkages and reflections. The degree to which these are beneficial to the reader depends on their immersion into recent trends in critical theory. But those those who can swim, Wark is lively, bright, and interesting, and the read is valuable for all those reasons.
...a mediating of the various kinds of knowledge of the component parts of that totality [constituted by the geopolitics of labor, resources, planetary excavations, energy production, natural processes, and the aftereffects of electronic waste] to one another without the pretensions to mastery of any one field or discipline over all the others. Both modest and hubristic, but with a good sense of humour, this typifies Sensoria.
Most of the book qualifies as an intelligent summary with critical linkages and reflections. The degree to which these are beneficial to the reader depends on their immersion into recent trends in critical theory. But those those who can swim, Wark is lively, bright, and interesting, and the read is valuable for all those reasons.
January 23, 2025
Interdisciplinary webs of thought tactfully woven together to map out pressing theories moving us into our collective future. There is so much in here that I want to come back to - so many great references and writers to dig deeper with. I love what Wark did with this book! Sensory brain food for me that put new categories, words and awarenesses toward the fuel of this impacted information time.
October 15, 2025
way WAY above my head. and honestly i did not know wark had their finger in quite this many pies. impressive. points to a number of recent theory/philosophy books i want to try and surely again stumble on. big dumb head. appreciate how many times she was able to fit in the phrase "is this still capitalism or something worse?" (the next book of hers i wanted to read)
August 25, 2024
A spiritual sequel to General Intellects, continuing many of the main themes, from cultural theory to ecology to technology to political economy, with a renewed emphasis on race and national contexts this time around.
February 8, 2021
great theoretical overview
September 4, 2021
Extremely weak. Wark is more interested to plug her friends than doing any serious intellectual work here.
July 26, 2023
As long as you appreciate the dense language of theory, this book is absolutely mind-blowing. I plan on keeping this one close. Fresh and important work.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews