Posthumanism and the Massive Open Online Course : Contaminating the Subject of Global Education, Knox, J. (Ed.) : book review

Abstract

Jeremy Knox's book analyses the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) through the lens of critical posthumanism. Faithful to the posthumanist cartographic methodology expounded on most notably by Rosi Braidotti, Knox acknowledges that this is not an authoritative account of the development of the MOOC, but rather traces some of the dominant accounts and myths of its development. He also does not aim to give a detailed overview of what the MOOC is, but rather focuses on those aspects that relate to the subjectivity of the MOOC user. As an analytical tool or 'genealogical and a navigational tool' as Braidotti (2013: 5) puts it, posthumanism does not steer away from complexity, rather, it is a philosophy that eschews the bite-sized or absolute descriptions of phenomena that are so prevalent in the media today. The task of the critical theorist, according to Braidotti (2013) is to firstly account for the present. Once this is achieved, the critique can then be transformed into affirmative creation. Knox's book provides a substantial critique of the MOOC, and he does provide food for thought towards affirmative transformation.