Keywords
planetarity
climate catastrophe
planning
computation
future
How to Cite
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to introduce the theory and practice of Benjamin Bratton. His statement that “we look out into space, and from space back down to Earth to orient what planetarity should mean” indicate a two key aspects of his thought, which I discuss along with their political consequences. The first one is the recognition of planetary-scale computation as the condition for the possibility of phenomena such as climate catastrophe. The second one is the analysis of the planetary-scale means of production and the spaces of sovereignty they create. To achieve this, Bratton constructs a model of The Stack. Thinking about the future of politics, he speculates about two possible scenarios: neofeudalism and neocommunism. Inspired by his work, I formulate two necessary conditions of the rational politics of the future: the reorientation of planetary-scale computation to other purposes than a profit, and the rescaling of planning in both time and space. Elaborating on the first results of The Terraforming programme enables us to glimpse the possibility of an egalitarian and universal future through concrete projects.
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