The only way we can respond to this estheticizing of technology is with a technological politicization of art, with a literature that generates dystopias about the economic means of production of the present, with a literature that desecrates the sacred aura that has been bestowed upon technological devices in our day.

We are living in an age of rapid technological advancements. Day by day, newer developments are infiltrating our daily lives, and this happens so fast that people find it difficult to keep pace. The poor, marginalized, and seniors are left behind in this race. The privileged ones who are successful in updating themselves remain relevant, harvesting the benefits that these technologies offer and progressing further. Traditional capital forces are being replaced by gigantic technological conglomerates that aim to monopolize their technologies that are disruptive in nature and acquire an iron hold over the world and its resources.

Technology and Barbarism is a book by the Argentine writer Michel Nieva that finds relevance in this situation. Nieva is a science fiction writer who created a subgenre that imagines the future from a South American perspective, named gauchopunk. This book is a collection of nonfiction essays that try to explain that the boundaries between technology and barbarism often seem very hazy. The book, originally written in Spanish, is translated by Rahul Bery and Daniel Hahn. I received an advance review copy from its publisher, Astra Publishing House, through Netgalley.

The book consists of two parts. The first one, titled ‘Capitalist Science Fiction,’ deals with the traditional science fiction novel and its effect on future technologies. With relevant examples like the novel Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, which possibly inspired technologies like cryptocurrencies and others, Nieva asserts how several science fiction writers work essentially as oracles for Silicon Valley. Through these novels, which usually portray the fight of a libertarian hero against an oppressive dystopia, the tech companies are cast as an irreverent subculture that opposes the control of an oppressive government.

Nieva accuses them of using this narrative to profit from the exemptions by the government. They claim to develop greener technology, which could eventually save humanity from the effects of climate change, while the real ecological cost falls on the third world, which mines rare earth and minerals. We are also introduced to Communist science fiction, which is based on the belief that the highly advanced aliens from outer space would naturally have an advanced form of communism, and an invasion would save humanity.

Part two of the book, ‘Technology and Barbarism,’ primarily focuses on how Argentine literature shows us that the border between civilization and barbarism is bridged by technology and how technological progress is a debasement of life. He begins from a colonial past where indigenous people weren’t considered even human and how their culture was equated to the recent discovery of microorganisms that caused plagues. The advancement of HIV caused a repetition where the victims were the LGBTIQ+ community. The writer explores this topic extensively, taking us to poetry being encoded into the DNA of bacteria (transgenic art), the concept of bacterial libraries that could survive millions of years, robotic writing, and viropolitics, which creates a parallel between virus and capital.

This is one of the most intelligent books that I have read in a long time. It is written in an exquisite and evocative style that speaks to its reader in a deep and intellectual manner. The writer chooses a topic, does a deep dive, and brings out brilliant insights to the reader and then effortlessly manages to find a way to transition into another seemingly unrelated one. One could clearly identify the level of research and scholarly effort that went into the book that covers topics as distant as AI technology and the beliefs of Native Americans.

While the book is enjoyable and stimulating, the extreme hatred that the author possesses towards technological companies and capitalism seems to make him petty and myopic in some of his conclusions. His biases are evident when he accuses capitalists of being exclusive. He claims that the research in longevity medicines will only benefit the one percent ultra-rich of humanity. Capitalism tends towards inclusiveness in its participation, though the inclusion it practices is unfair, uneven and strategically structured to gain the most from it.

When a new product is released in the market, the capitalist wants the entire population to use it so that the higher cost in research, development, and initial manufacturing is covered. It may take time to penetrate the market fully, until prices stabilize and become affordable for all. This is evident when we see the rise in life expectancy of the entirety of humanity (from around thirty years to seventy today). It has risen significantly from pre-industrial revolution times, and though the uber-rich still maintain an advantage, we cannot deny that the capitalist inventions of medicines, equipment, and procedures have aided even the poor. So if a longevity drug is ever developed, the maker will ensure that the maximum number of people use it and he recovers his cost and earns profit.

Nieva’s proposal of South American shamanic beliefs and Argentine science fiction about Communist aliens arriving to save humanity as a counter narrative to the capitalist blitzkrieg exposes the writer’s reluctance to move beyond symbolism and mythology and address the urgency of the situation. In India, the government is pushing generic drugs in place of branded ones, which reduces the cost of drugs by more than fifty percent. It is such practical and scalable initiatives that could actually counter the capitalist narrative. It’s difficult to see how an impractical mythologizing and trying to personally antagonize someone could make a real difference.

Technology and Barbarism dazzles with the sheer amount of original thought and its striking writing style. But be prepared to wade through a lot of ideological hatred, myopic conclusions, and pettiness on your way.