Strange Weather: Culture, Science and Technology in the Age of Limits

The Haymarket Series

by Andrew Ross

Who speaks for science in a technologically dominated society? In his latest work of cultural criticism Andrew Ross contends that this question yields no simple or easy answer. In our present technoculture a wide variety of people, both inside and outside the scientific community, have become increasingly vocal in exercising their right to speak about, on behalf of, and often against, science and technology.

Arguing that science can only ever be understood as a social artifact, Strange Weather  is a manifesto which calls on cultural critics to abandon their technophobia and contribute to the debates which shape our future. Each chapter focuses on an idea, a practice or community that has established an influential presence in our New Age, computer hacking, cyberpunk, futurology, and global warming.

In a book brimming over with intelligence—both human and electronic—Ross examines the state of scientific countercultures in an age when the development of advanced information technologies coexists uneasily with ecological warnings about the perils of unchecked growth. Intended as a contribution to a “green” cultural criticism, Strange Weather  is a provocative investigation of the ways in which science is shaping the popular imagination of today, and delimiting the possibilities of tomorrow.

276 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Andrew Ross is Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at New York University, and a social activist. A contributor to The Nation, the Village Voice, New York Times, and Artforum, he is the author of many books, including, most recently, Bird on Fire: Lessons from the World’s Least Sustainable City and Nice Work if You Can Get It: Life and Labor in Precarious Times.

Reviews

[Funda Guzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

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[Harley Lond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read 20 years on down the road -- wish I had read it when it first came out.

[Christoph · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can safely put this right down the middle at 3 stars. Its as good as it is bad, as insightful as it is bland, as vague as it is comprehensive; all on issues related to the intersection of culture, science, and technology. But rather than a hard scientific or journalistic critique, this confluence of domains is assessed through the lens of a cultural, post-modern critical theorist. Ross was writing at a time and context where such a perspective was just proliferating to a popular audience from a generation other than the original names in the movement; however, he doesn't write to their standards. A lack of clarity, coherency, and reliable rationality pervades this disparate collection of essays all wandering around the subtitle theme.

The first, and longest, of these essays critiques the rise of the New Age movement. It is indeed a reasoned and thorough history, and the clearly pseudo-scientific aspect of this genre is outed, but a clear understanding of the reason for the cataloging of various disciplines or schools of thought is lost; however, the first inklings of a biased view of science as merely being usurped as a tool for the MIC or political interests begins to surface. And through all this, after nearly a hundred pages of observational and ideological meandering, we arrive at a thesis of sorts. This same treatment is afforded to hacktivism of the time, cyberpunk via pulp science fiction, futurology, and meteorology.

Its important to note that none of these topics is remotely related to a hard science. So when Ross' critique of science arises from these topics, one gets the impression that Ross doesnt really understand true scientific rigor. Yes, many research organizations are funded and perpetuated as part of industry and the MIC but it does not have a hold on the meaning let alone the practice of science. But when your understanding of science is primarily informed through your cultural experience of it, a certain bias is inevitable.

The most interesting aspect of this book, where arguments are made, primarily in the section on futurology and moreso meteorology, is the inability to distinguish between populist arguments and observations in 1990 and today. For instance, the climate change rhetoric, both for and against, are exactly the same, while the science on this issue has progressed.

At the end of the day, there are some interesting departures and a useful bibliography, but short of this, there is little reason to recommend this read.

[Malcolm · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not so much a science book as a book about the ways science functions as a way to claim power and authority. In this the objective is not so distinctive (science critics have long argued against its role as a system of truth. What is distinctive about Ross’s writings on science is that he explores ways that ‘science’ is used by its critics – such as those in the New Age movement – as a means of sustaining the truth of their views. Other chapters explore other aspects of science-in-culture, such as the relationships between science fiction writing broader social views of science. The standout chapter for me though is the final one, exploring the weather: the nature writer Annie Dillard once wrote of her desire that people discuss the weather because it is so interesting; for Ross’s argument here the weather is key because of its relation to global warming in two ways. First, the ecology movement is distinctive because of its recourse to science to justify its claims; second, because weather is how so many of us experience climate. It is the second aspect that is more interesting given the national and nationalist constructions of the weather, and the tension with the need for a globalist response to global warming. (As an aside, it is slightly depressing to read a 20-year-old view from the left of the politics of global warming and the weaknesses of corporatist responses, and be reminded just how far corporatist and neo-colonial positions have come to dominate the global politics of global warming: let’s not fall into the euphemism of ‘climate change’.) As always, Ross is politically savvy, and in many ways one of our sharpest cultural critics: this is what cultural studies should be like.

[Mark Bowles · Rating 4 out of 5]

A. Synopsis: This book is about the oppositional technologies. Oppositional technologies are the values of groups that contest official scientific culture or those who oppose authority and institutional science. Ross does not see either side as wrong, he criticizes both as well as compliments both. This is much like Gramsci’s theory of hegemony in which by consenting to a ruling class the suborbinates can gain some measure of control. In Gramsci’s terms a “counter hegemony” is formed. Ross would call this an oppositional technology
B. Oppositional technologies that Ross examines: New age science, computer hackers, technocracy in early science fiction, post-war futurist speculation, cultural significance of contemporary weather consciousness
C. He is positive about the future. He call for people to abandon technophobia and participate in the discussions that can redirect dystopian forces that shape the world
D. Two examples
1. New Age ideology emphasizes individual rather than collective well being (holistic)
a) New Agers believe that western medicine takes illness out of context (ignoring the person). They use the work of scientists to validate their own position.
b) The New Agers contest the dominant scientific paradigm of today, yet accept it in many ways.
2. Computer hacking
a) Robert Morris attack on the DARPA via the Internet (1988)
b) This viral hysteria created a windfall for anti-virus software producers
c) The hacker is revolting against the proprietary conception of information. They say that it must be free and no one can own it.
d) Cyber-counterculture challenges the information elite’s and demands free access to all information.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ross is a Scottish cultural critic and professor at NYU, a widely known member of the wave of postmodern thinkers who came along in the 1990s. In this book he takes on a variety of subjects, but does not provide the kind of overall examination of them that the title suggests. Rather, this reads like a collection of shorter essays on a few of the intersections of technology and culture. There are chapters on new age science, computer hackers, science fiction, and the evolving image of scientists and engineers.

Most of it is interesting to read, although at times he seems to be stretching too far in an attempt to make points. For example, his discussion of weather reporting as "culture" is not very convincing. Like a number of others, he seems interested in helping to create a new kind of criticism that emphasizes the position of culture(s) within the power structure of society.