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NSI NBS 8-7337-06-259-879 ( p r i n t de ) SSENISUB + NSI NBS 1-6337-06-259-879 ( dp f ) E MONOC Y L-NSI NSS - L 9971 - 4394 NSI NSS 9971 - 4394 ( p r i n t de ) TRA + NSI NSS 9971 - 2494 ( dp f ) NGISED + HCRA I T TCE ERU ytisrevinU otlaA ytisrevinU nisu fo oohcS l o f uB s i en s s ECNEICS + nite Mfo etrapeD r nemt t o f aM r ek t i gn T E ONHC L GO Y if.otlaa.www . a a l t o . f i R VOSSORC RE COD T RO A L +ihddha*GMFTSH9 COD T RO A L SNOITATRESSID SNOITATRESSID otlaA ytisrevinU 7102 Aalto University publication series DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS 47/2017 Breaking the Limits Posthumanism, Consumption, and the Future of the Human Andrei Botez Aalto University School of Business Department of Marketing Main dissertation advisor Henrikki Tikkanen, Aalto University School of Business, Finland Opponent Janet L. Borgerson, University of London, United Kingdom Aalto University publication series DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS 47/2017 © Andrei Botez ISBN 978-952-60-7337-8 (printed) ISBN 978-952-60-7336-1 (pdf) ISSN-L 1799-4934 ISSN 1799-4934 (printed) ISSN 1799-4942 (pdf) http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-60-7336-1 Unigrafia Oy Helsinki 2017 Finland Abstract Aalto University, P.O. Box 11000, FI-00076 Aalto www.aalto.fi Author Andrei Botez Name of the doctoral dissertation Breaking the Limits Publisher School of Business Unit Department of Marketing Series Aalto University publication series DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS 47/2017 Field of research Posthuman Consumer Culture Date of the defence 31 March 2017 Language English Monograph Article dissertation Essay dissertation Abstract In the last couple of decades, a certain vibe made itself felt in both academic and popular circles. The fields of marketing, cultural and interpretivist consumer research (and other related ones, such as e.g. Organization Studies) are no exception. Bearing different names, that breeze quickly became a wind, today being mostly known as the Posthumanist, or the Transhumanist movement. The main aim of my PhD thesis is to introduce Christian theology as the main force that shapes and legitimizes the Poshumanist movement and to show the ways in which, in turn, this movement influences fields such as postmodern and critical marketing, cultural, and interpretive consumer research and, especially, the emerging field of Posthuman Consumer Research. Accordingly, my thesis contributes to the ongoing discussions within the field of Posthuman Consumer Research regarding the rise of the so-called ''cyborgian consumer''. By taking on the proposed approach, this research explores issues pertaining to the future of (biological and technological) identity, the commodity, markets, and consumption at large. Adding to the ongoing discussion, and despite recent research, my thesis does not approach technology and various contemporary philosophical paradigms (e.g. non-representationalism, post-structuralism, speculative realism) as the great disruptors and actors behind the inception of Poshumanism and the cyborg, but rather theology. Therefore, this research identifies and addresses an important oversight in the Posthuman Consumer Culture, i.e. the virtually complete absence of theological analyses. This creates an additional angle of research for the culturally-oriented consumer researchers interested in the subject, but not only. Keywords Posthumanism, transhumanism, consumer culture, theology ISBN (printed) 978-952-60-7337-8 ISBN (pdf) 978-952-60-7336-1 ISSN-L 1799-4934 ISSN (printed) 1799-4934 ISSN (pdf) 1799-4942 Location of publisher Helsinki Location of printing Helsinki Year 2017 Pages 342 urn http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-60-7336-1 Acknowledgements Writing and completing this doctoral dissertation has nothing to do with an institutional decision. More than anything it defines a very personal journey of discovery and learning. As a theologian, I believe that everything we do has an impact on our world, on our society, on our institutions and people. Accordingly, we are who we are because of the people we met, the things we touched, the ways we walked, and the spaces we saw. This dissertation contains all that. The pen I used and the keys I pressed were never used or pressed by a single person, but by many, many others beings, human and non-human, simultaneously. Some have names that can be written down, others do not. I would like to start by thanking Henrikki Tikkanen for believing in me since the very beginning. Together with Metropolitan Ambrosius of Helsinki and Joel Hietanen, they formed the original ‘gang’ that welcomed me in Finland, helped and assisted me throughout the long and, more often than not, painful process of completing this text and everything related to it. A big thank you to my colleagues to the Department of Marketing of Aalto University. You received me, the weird theologian with a strong eastern European accent, with open arms. Your encouragements, feedbacks and advices have been invaluable to me. Thanks to Hedon Blakaj, Antti Sihvonen, Ilona Mikkonen, Terhi Väistö (my very first guide through the bureaucratic maze at Aalto), and Jack Tillotson. With the risk of running into overtly emotional territories, I would like to mention Anastasia Seregina and Eevi Huhtamaa for their everything. In addition to the awesome Aalto crowd, there is the theological one, equally awesome, yet slightly scarier. My soul cannot scream a bigger thank you to the monastic community of Chevetogne. I own so much to those amazing people, especially Dom Philippe Vanderheyden, Dom Thomas Pott and Dom Cyrille Vael. Most important of all, my love, friendship and gratitude goes to Tuuli Klaas, Bogdan Nastasiu, and Bogdan Pârâială. For all these years, you have been everything one could hope for in terms of friendship. Lastly, this dissertation would have been impossible also without the financial support of the Helsinki School of Economics Foundation, and the Marketing Department of Aalto University. I cannot appreciate more your trust in my work. Helsinki, 2.02.2017 Botez Andrei 1 Table of Contents A. Introduction ......................................................................... 5 i. Setting the stage .......................................................................... 6 ii. Posthumanism and the emerging field of ‘Posthuman Consumer Culture’ ........................................................................................... 9 ii. a Who are thou, cyborg? ............................................................... 9 ii.b Reading differently: Posthumanism as post-humanities .......... 12 ii. c Posthumanism and the issue of the ‘limit’ ............................... 12 ii. d The notion of limit within marketing and consumer research . 13 ii. e The perceived architects of the Posthumanist matrix ............. 15 iii. Contribution: introducing theology as the main disruptor of limits ............................................................................................. 17 iv. Why theology? ......................................................................... 17 v. Identifying the dogmatic present absences within the Posthumanist discourse ................................................................ 18 vi. What theology has to do with the concept of commodity, the practice of consumption, and the markets? ................................... 20 vii. Implications ............................................................................. 22 viii. Are you in the audience? ........................................................ 23 ix. General structure of the work ................................................... 24 B. Methodology ....................................................................... 26 1. Part. I: Under the heathen sky .......................................... 33 1.1 Introduction ........................................................................ 33 1.2 ‘Allotted by the Great Chain’: the concepts of the Great Chain of Being and Fate .......................................................................... 39 1.3 The sub- and the supra-lunary regions ................................. 42 1.4 Notes on matter, materiality and