E-enlightenment

Political scientist creates cyber window into the future of techno-culture

by Lynda Hills

Kroker

Strap yourself in for a time capsule ride into the future. Your pilot is UVic political scientist Dr. Arthur Kroker who is using advanced video conferencing techniques and networked computing to explore the social, ethical and political implications of the digital future.

Kroker’s home base is the Pacific Centre for Technology and Culture (PACTAC), an interdisciplinary institute for research and teaching that focuses on the impact of technological change on culture, politics and society. Located in UVic’s Technology Enterprise Facility, PACTAC is the faculty of social science’s window into the future of techno-culture.

“PACTAC looks ahead 10 or 15 years to the consequences of new technologies,” says Kroker, who joined UVic in 2003 as the Canada Research Chair in technology, culture and theory. Often described as a “futurist and cyber-philosopher,” he studies Internet culture, the social and political consequences of emergent biotechnologies, and the impact of information technology on contemporary culture.

PACTAC was launched a year ago by Kroker and his team, which includes senior research scholar Marilouise Kroker, Ted Hiebert, and Jackson Leween. “The idea was to create an exciting, innovative space where researchers from many disciplines can find an intellectual home, where they can meet face-to-face and in cyberspace,” says Kroker.

The centre’s main information conduit starts at CTheory.net, an international, peer-reviewed electronic journal and academic archive of articles, interviews, key events, and book reviews. If you’re looking for information on what the latest futurists are thinking, or just interested in stretching your brain, CTheory is the place to go.

“CTheory has 25,000 readers in 100 countries, including people inside and outside universities and technology labs, doctors and public policy-makers,” says Kroker.

Anyone with access to a computer can hook up and take a ride. In fact, accessibility is one of the main
philosophies of PACTAC. “Articles are downloadable, free and can be used as a teaching resource,” adds Kroker. “Browsers can get in touch with the author if they want more information, or to start up a dialogue.”

The CTheory website also features CTheorybooks, a digital, universal library with books on subjects ranging from futurist philosophy to feminism. Since CTheorybooks began two years ago, more than 50,000 books have been downloaded, many into countries with state control over information. “Many books about feminism have been downloaded by women in Iran,” Kroker notes.

One of PACTAC’s main goals is to generate thought and dialogue. CTheory Live (www.pactac.net) offers live, online seminars, where experts can discuss the implications of science and technology on modern culture. The seminars are all archived and, like a small on-screen movie, can be accessed online at any time.

CTheory Live topics have included contemporary politics, music, film, biotechnology, new digital technologies, and the future of indigenous resistance. Recently, PACTAC published Life in the Wires: The CTheory Reader, a 500-page anthology of articles on technology and culture that is used in media courses in Canada, the U.S. and Australia.

“Not understanding the implications of future technologies has massive consequences,” Kroker says. For example, in a recent seminar, political scientist Dr. William Leiss, past president of the Royal Society of Canada, made the convincing argument that, given the current pace of genetic research, we’ll be able to redesign the human body within five to 10 years.

“What mother would not want better vision, better athletic skills, higher intelligence and a better memory for her baby?” Kroker asks. “This gives rise to a huge question: once we genetically re-design the body on a species level, can we find our way back if there are unintended consequences?”

Since he came to UVic, Kroker’s vision for PACTAC has grown. “There’s so much creativity at UVic that has inspired this project,” he says. “The virtual community has become something tangible and real. Using technologies for substantive and in-depth communication is now an everyday occurrence.”

PACTAC is funded by the Canada Research Chair program, the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the B.C. Knowledge Development Fund.

To take your journey into the future visit www.ctheory.net.