The Tunneling Metaphor in Networked Technologies

Abstract

This article explores the metaphor of tunneling to illustrate how the emancipatory language of border resistance can become co-opted in transnational technocultures. Drawing on specific instances of tunneling in science fiction film, video games, and digital platforms, I reveal how this metaphor has been mobilized to cast vanguard forms of online connectivity and networked transgression in terms that are distinctly white, masculine, upper class, and adhering to liberal tenets of individual mastery. This analysis suggests why we must question what kinds of politics and which subjects are privileged or undervalued in the metaphorical discussions of online borders and so-called border resistance. Only then can we respond to dominant and reactionary forms of transmission and connectivity across the internet.