For Those to Come: An Introduction to Why Posthumanism Matters

As the introduction to the special issue of Leisure Sciences dedicated to interdisciplinary theorizations and practices productively informed by our posthuman predicament and currents within posthumanist thought, this article sets the stage, tone, and itinerary for a series of articles examining the various potentials posthumanism affords. As such, we attempt to connect multiple ways posthumanism may be taken up with key concepts, linguistic identifiers, and onto-epistemological shifts that may open upon important differences in how we live, think, and relate with human and nonhuman entities. Resisting melancholic laments at the failures of humanism, we urge for an affirmative, upbeat, and visionary approach to set a different trajectory for our future. This article is intended to serve as a point of departure for scholars desiring to experiment with what posthumanism can do to generate changes and accelerations for a more humane, if not less human-centric, future.