The collective monograph Synthetic Becoming brings together research by artists, activists, and feminist technoscience practitioners concerned with sympoietic becoming with hormones and hormonally active chemicals. The contributors examine effects of industrial, pharmaceutical, and more-than-human production and interplay of hormonally active molecules, asking: What does life re-assembled by hormones and hormone-mimicking chemicals look and feel like? Who are we becoming with them and how can we possibly be with them otherwise? Adopting a decolonial feminist, posthumanist, and new materialist approach, the book embraces queer ecological sensibilities and responds with a series of critical but hopeful provocations that embrace posthuman mutability and articulate our “synthetic becoming” in ways that facilitate caring relations and allow us to envision and enact hopeful futures with and despite these peculiar chemical agents. The contemplation of synthetic coexistence and solidarity with “polluted” forms of life extends beyond the book's content to the act of reading. Printed on uncoated paper crafted from 100% recycled fibers, the book's fragile physicality and the minute traces of printing ink, paint residues, and other potentially toxic materials, including those with endocrine disrupting properties, remind readers of the intricate material entanglements characteristic of the Anthropocene era, urging them to sensitively reflect these relationships in daily practice.

[Issuu.com]