Mode of Communication & Production: From Human to Posthuman

The rapid advancement of information and communication technology has helped transform artificial life as part of humanness. Scholar such as Robert Pepperell (2009)have posited that these encompass, among others, communication technology, nanotechnology, genetic engineering, and artificial intelligence. They have, he argues, establisherd an arguably autonomous existence to humanity; and this is what he calls as the posthuman existence or the condition in which human consciousness structurally connected to technology. At the same time, such complex consciousness has shaped as well spaces of competition between human and technology. Herein lies fundamental questions such as human/technology coexistence/balance, the bewitching charms of technology, technological fetishism to name a few. Thus, this idea problematises the alienation of humans’ sense of being – whether as objects or subjects of technology – and whether they can resist and negotiate with the reign of technology.

In Pepperell’s (2009) line of human and posthuman period, the posthuman period marks the rapid development of the technological world which has decreased human social awareness and increased social control by robots they have created. In advanced capitalist societies, technological products have becoming the symbol of superiority, which makes this development a political process as well.

The theme of this year’s conference facilitates criticism and further ideas regarding what it means to be human. It opens spaces to discuss various technological developments and knowledge which also tries to overcome humanity’s social problems – such as inequality, social injustice, and power imbalances between people. As such, the Department of Communication, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Indonesia is hosting the 2018 IndoIGCC to academically discuss diverse modes of production and communication, tracing the role of technology in the shaping of human beings and humanity.

We invite researchers, practitioners and academics to submit their papers on how technologies challenge the human humanity within the fields of communication, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, literature, culture, media, religion, gender, the environment, and the arts.

Sub Themes (but not limited to):

• Communication Studies
• Media Management
• Marketing Communication Management
• Corporate Communication Management
• Political Communication Management
• Cultural Studies