War and Porn

In the mid-Eighties, German media theorist Friedrich Kittler called out all modern communication as a “misuse of military equipment”. Historians of the internet know, though, that this by now is only half of the truth. The web as we know it today has been shaped not only by the demands of modern warfare, but also by the demands of the global porn industry.

Many of the current technologies and practices that shape our online landscape — pop-up ads, subscription services, online credit-card transactions, e-commerce, online marketing, video conferencing software, and above all, internet speed — owe their widespread adoption, in part, to inventive porn entrepreneurs.

In this seminar, "Networks" and "Queer Studies" team up to explore the history of the internet through the messy relations that exist between the world wide web, network-centric warfare, and porn.

During the seminar, we’ll dive into the early beginnings of the world wide web through the lens of GIF-porn, Ascii erotica, cyber sex suits, online advertising, data extraction, social network analysis, open-source intelligence, drone warfare, streaming, and speed.

We will engage with a variety of perspectives by reading and/or meeting feminist porn entrepreneurs, whistleblowers, activists, artists, and researchers closely connected with the topics.