Digital Monarchies
About
Sleek interfaces and fascist in Patagonia jackets ^^ Wild ride into the politics of software, with a particular focus on neo-feudal structures, feudal futurism concept and its technological software elements.
my research journey, 2023
Technofeudalism – cartographies of digital monarchies
Technofeudalism – cartographies of digital monarchies is a project I started a year ago as part of my PhD research at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow - a city sometimes described as a Polish Silicon Valley. But to the point. Digital Monarchies? WTF does this mean?
In the beginning of my academic journey I was mostly occupied by theoretically running after fascists, then I fell into the wild rabbit hole of tech demise and internet analysis and I never crawled out from there. In my first MA in Polish philology and media studies I examined the image of Polish far-right organisations with a strong focus on the great rebranding phenomenon – how nazi skins turned into boys wearing streetwear clothes or smart casual jumpers [do you remember Krzysztof Bosak in Taniec z Gwiazdami? I do].
During the thesis exam one of the professors asked why I didn't analyse the Organisation of Polish Monarchists and I thought ‘sure, group of old lads’ – because back then monarchists were just a group of old men or eventually metal-heads and geeks interested in historical reconstruction.
Times have changed and, after a decade of deep dive into alt-right lore, I put forward the thesis that, along with the challenges facing modern democracy, we are experiencing the return of feudal and monarchical sentiments, this time in a high-tech edition.
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In the beginning of my academic journey I was mostly occupied by theoretically running after fascists, then I fell into the wild rabbit hole of tech demise and internet analysis and I never crawled out from there. In my first MA in Polish philology and media studies I examined the image of Polish far-right organisations with a strong focus on the great rebranding phenomenon – how nazi skins turned into boys wearing streetwear clothes or smart casual jumpers [do you remember Krzysztof Bosak in Taniec z Gwiazdami? I do].
During the thesis exam one of the professors asked why I didn't analyse the Organisation of Polish Monarchists and I thought ‘sure, group of old lads’ – because back then monarchists were just a group of old men or eventually metal-heads and geeks interested in historical reconstruction.
Times have changed and, after a decade of deep dive into alt-right lore, I put forward the thesis that, along with the challenges facing modern democracy, we are experiencing the return of feudal and monarchical sentiments, this time in a high-tech edition.
