Donna Haraway(1944 — ?)

« I would rather be a cyborg than a goddess.»

In 1985, Donna Haraway published her “Cyborg Manifesto” in a small left-wing magazine, the Socialist Review. In it she coined a phrase that has remained famous: “I would rather be a cyborg than a goddess.” The idea of a half-human, half-machine being that blurs the boundary between nature and technology scandalized some feminists but quickly became a cult text studied all over the world.

Before becoming a philosopher, Haraway was first a biologist: she earned a doctorate in biology from Yale University in 1972. This dual training, in both the life sciences and the history of ideas, explains why she is just as comfortable talking about cells, monkeys, and dogs as about politics and feminism.

A passionate dog lover, Haraway practiced agility (a dog obstacle sport) with her dog Cayenne. She drew a whole book from it, *The Companion Species Manifesto* (2003), in which she argues that we cannot truly understand what it means to be human without observing how humans live alongside animals.

To describe our era marked by ecological crises, Haraway coined the word “Chthulucene” in 2016. She proposed a provocative slogan: “Make Kin Not Babies,” inviting us to weave bonds between species rather than thinking only about human reproduction.

Haraway long taught in a department with a surprising name: the “History of Consciousness” program at the University of California, Santa Cruz, a place renowned for blending philosophy, science, the arts, and politics without respecting the usual boundaries between disciplines.