Robo Sapiens Japanicus - by Jennifer Robertson (Paperback)

Robo Sapiens Japanicus is a groundbreaking book that delves into the world of Japanese robotics, exploring how robots are developed, acculturated, promoted, and used in Japan.

The author, Jennifer Robertson, provides an ethnographic and sociocultural history of governmental and academic discourses on human-robot relations in Japan, offering a critical eye on press releases and public relations videos that misrepresent actual robots as being as versatile and agile as their science fiction counterparts. The book examines how actual robots - humanoids, androids, and animaloids - are "imagineered" in ways that reinforce the conventional sex/gender system and political-economic status quo.

Robertson interrogates the notion of human exceptionalism as she considers whether "civil rights" should be granted to robots, and juxtaposes how robots and robotic exoskeletons reinforce a conception of the "normal" body with a deconstruction of the much-invoked Theory of the Uncanny Valley. Throughout the book, Robertson presents carefully documented analyses of the cultural imaginaries, visions, and realities of Japanese robotics policies, offering insightful critiques of gendered and ableist assumptions underlying robot designs past and present.

The book is a must-read for anyone interested in the history and anthropology of robotics, as well as those considering the "robot revolution" and its implications for society.