‘Absence’ is
one of those many words that can be only understood and therefore better defined
using its binary opposite or antonym, which is ‘presence’.  Being absent is not being present or in very
simple terms not being there.

Goldman uses this term in a very specific context to
communicate two related but different ideas. In his article “Ghostcatching, An
Intersection of Technology, Labor and Race” he refers first to the absence of sweat
in the product of ghostcatching. This implicates an absence of human effort and
labor, an absence of fatigue that has been of interest to humans since the appearance
of automatons.

Secondly he refers to the absence of
skin, and with this he introduces the idea of race. Race constitutes an
important part of an identity, and according to Bill T. Jones it can’t be
separated from the individual as it helps to define it.

In my opinion this brings two important
questions that we should be asking ourselves.

Is this absence of fatigue enough for
us to differentiate ourselves form automatons?

Is race ever going to be understood
with the absence of skin colour?