Much like the techpriests of the Cult Mechanicus, Western societies in the second millennium are consumed by technological advancement, techno-positivistic ontologies, and the sustainability of mankind. During the mid-1900s, there was a shift in biomedical research and theorization that since has brought us new conceptualization of the body: what it can and cannot do and what constitutes a healthy life: a life worthy of being treated as such. Since then, innovation, amelioration, and augmentation of bodies through genomics, neuroscience, and pharmacology are at the forefront of medical knowledge innovation, designed to prevent illness and promote wellbeing. However, the technologization of medicine, as described by Nikolas Rose, has never been an objective one. Rather, it is motivated by capital and political understandings of life itself, and (re)produces normative discourse focused on what beings we are and what we think we want to be.
Set in the 40th millennium, we read of unimaginable mutations of biopower: subjugation of human bodies through radical methods to sustain Mankind and the Golden Throne. To many, the Adeptus Mechanicus might seem an incredible and cruel cult of more-than-humans, madly dedicated to the means of the Omnissiah. However, I ask, are these harbingers of corporal manipulation different from our contemporary selves? Is their theology merely fiction or perhaps a satirical mirror of the romanticizing of biological optimization that we are currently experiencing?
This presentation considers Rose’s theories on biomedicalization, social constructs, and veneration of medical technologies through a science fantasy lens. As such, I aim to illustrate how narratives within the Warhammer imaginary can (and should) be read not only as entertainment, but as social commentary. Bringing together the humanities and science and technology studies through a relatively unexplored genre and franchise, we form new understandings of our relationship to technologies, and the bodies that govern them.
Author bio
Petter Almqvist-Ingersoll is a PhD candidate at Technology and Social Change, Linköping University. With a background in social and cultural analysis and gender studies, their current research concerns the creation and movement of knowledge through social interactions in popular and social media, focused on medical technologies and conditions.
