Does Technology Drive History?

Author: Merritt Roe Smith
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262691673
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 310

Book Description
These thirteen essays explore a crucial historical questionthat has been notoriously hard to pin down: To what extent,and by what means, does a society's technology determine itspolitical, social, economic, and cultural forms? These thirteen essays explore a crucial historical question that has been notoriously hard to pin down: To what extent, and by what means, does a society's technology determine its political, social, economic, and cultural forms? Karl Marx launched the modern debate on determinism with his provocative remark that "the hand-mill gives you society with the feudal lord; the steam-mill, society with the industrial capitalist," and a classic article by Robert Heilbroner (reprinted here) renewed the debate within the context of the history of technology. This book clarifies the debate and carries it forward.Marx's position has become embedded in our culture, in the form of constant reminders as to how our fast-changing technologies will alter our lives. Yet historians who have looked closely at where technologies really come from generally support the proposition that technologies are not autonomous but are social products, susceptible to democratic controls. The issue is crucial for democratic theory. These essays tackle it head-on, offering a deep look at all the shadings of determinism and assessing determinist models in a wide variety of historical contexts. Contributors Bruce Bimber, Richard W. Bulliet, Robert L. Heilbroner, Thomas P. Hughes, Leo Marx, Thomas J. Misa, Peter C. Perdue, Philip Scranton, Merritt Roe Smith, Michael L. Smith, John M. Staudenmaier, Rosalind Williams

DOES TECHNOLOGY DRIVE HISTORY?

Author: M. & MARX SMITH (L.)
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

Book Description

The Social Construction of Technological Systems

Author: Wiebe E. Bijker
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262521376
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 428

Book Description
"The impact of technology on society is clear and unmistakeable. The influence of society on technology is more subtle. The 13 essays in this book have been written by a diverse group of scholars united by a common interest in creating a new field - the sociology of technology. They draw on a wide array of case studies - from cooking stoves to missile systems, from 15th-century Portugal to today's Al labs - to outline an original research program based on a synthesis of ideas from the social studies of science and the history of technology. Together they affirm the need for a study of technology that gives equal weight to technical, social, economic, and political questions"--Back cover.

Beyond Innovation: Technology, Institution and Change as Categories for Social Analysis

Author: Thomas Kaiserfeld
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 113754712X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 234

Book Description
Beyond Innovation counter weighs the present innovation monomania by broadening our thinking about technological and institutional change. It is done by a multidisciplinary review of the most common ideas about the dynamics between technology and institutions.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution

Author: Klaus Schwab
Publisher: Currency
ISBN: 1524758876
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 192

Book Description
World-renowned economist Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, explains that we have an opportunity to shape the fourth industrial revolution, which will fundamentally alter how we live and work. Schwab argues that this revolution is different in scale, scope and complexity from any that have come before. Characterized by a range of new technologies that are fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds, the developments are affecting all disciplines, economies, industries and governments, and even challenging ideas about what it means to be human. Artificial intelligence is already all around us, from supercomputers, drones and virtual assistants to 3D printing, DNA sequencing, smart thermostats, wearable sensors and microchips smaller than a grain of sand. But this is just the beginning: nanomaterials 200 times stronger than steel and a million times thinner than a strand of hair and the first transplant of a 3D printed liver are already in development. Imagine “smart factories” in which global systems of manufacturing are coordinated virtually, or implantable mobile phones made of biosynthetic materials. The fourth industrial revolution, says Schwab, is more significant, and its ramifications more profound, than in any prior period of human history. He outlines the key technologies driving this revolution and discusses the major impacts expected on government, business, civil society and individuals. Schwab also offers bold ideas on how to harness these changes and shape a better future—one in which technology empowers people rather than replaces them; progress serves society rather than disrupts it; and in which innovators respect moral and ethical boundaries rather than cross them. We all have the opportunity to contribute to developing new frameworks that advance progress.

Technology and American Society

Author: Gary Cross
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351249096
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 378

Book Description
Providing a global perspective on the development of American technology, Technology and American Society offers a historical narrative detailing major technological transformations over the last three centuries. With coverage devoted to both dramatic breakthroughs and incremental innovations, authors Gary Cross and Rick Szostak analyze the cause-and-effect relationship of technological change and its role in the constant drive for improvement and modernization. This fully-updated 3rd edition extends coverage of industry, home, office, agriculture, transport, constructions, and services into the twenty-first century, concluding with a new chapter on recent electronic and technological advances. Technology and American Society remains the ideal introduction to the myriad interactions of technological advancement with social, economic, cultural, and military change throughout the course of American history.

Technology and International Transformation

Author: Geoffrey L. Herrera
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 0791481158
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 278

Book Description
During an era in which the pace of technological change is unrelenting, understanding how international politics both shapes and is shaped by technology is crucial. Drawing on international relations theory, historical sociology, and the history of technology, Geoffrey L. Herrera offers an ambitious, theoretically sophisticated, and historically rich examination of the interrelation between technology and international politics. He explores the development of the railroad in the nineteenth century and the atomic bomb in the twentieth century to show that technologies do not stand apart from, but are intimately related to, even defined by, international politics.

Power and Technology

Author: Jan van Dijk
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1509563695
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 222

Book Description
The definition of power varies across disciplines. Social scientists tend to deal with social power, philosophers of technology with the relation between technology and society, and ecologists with the relation between natural and social power. Concepts of power and technology are freely used but this relationship is complex and multifaceted. In this analytic and ambitious textbook, Jan van Dijk brings these perspectives together to provide a more comprehensive answer. In attempting to integrate social, technical, and natural power into one framework, he develops a general concept of power which unites all three – the first time such an attempt has been made. The author argues that it is important to look at these concepts together: natural power is not simply a resource for technology and society, and its inclusion is crucial given the ecological impact of technologies. Overall, nine forms of power which comprise the framework are discussed in each chapter – force, construction, coercion, domination, discipline, dependency, information, persuasion, and authority – and at all levels (individuals, organizations, and societies). Van Dijk concludes with some practical implications and asks two key questions: how can automatic and autonomous technology such as AI be controlled by humans? And, how can we find a more sustainable and less exploitive technology? Power and Technology contains many figures, tables and illustrations and is suitable for students and scholars of technology studies and the sociology, philosophy and history of technology.

Technology and American Democracy

Author: Anthony Trotta
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000965058
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 214

Book Description
The growth and proliferation of technology in American society places new demands on the U.S. government and the health of its democracy, affecting both policymaking and public administration. Technology and American Democracy explores the underpinning democratic theories, including constitutional justifications, that guide decision makers during the application of Information Technology (IT) in governance to promote democratic principles such as transparency and accountability. The book examines the capacity of IT to facilitate deliberative democracy, alter modern bureaucratic structures and functions, and affect areas of public policy including public budgeting and performance measurement. Author Anthony Trotta demonstrates the ways in which technology creates new problems for contemporary government, including a discussion of virtual currency and its possible issues that must be addressed by the public sector. The discussion avoids highly technical language and confusing industry jargon, focusing instead on explaining important concepts in an accessible fashion, applicable to a broad spectrum of readers. Technology and American Democracy is required reading for students enrolled in courses on politics, public administration, and public policy.

Actor-Network Theory and Technology Innovation: Advancements and New Concepts

Author: Tatnall, Arthur
Publisher: IGI Global
ISBN: 1609601998
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 328

Book Description
Actor-Network Theory and Technology Innovation: Advancements and New Concepts provides a comprehensive look at the development of actor-network theory itself, as well as case studies of its use to assist in the explanation of various socio-technical phenomena. This book includes topics relating to technological innovation; both those using actor-network theory as an explanatory framework and those using other approaches. It is an excellent source of information regarding ANT as an approach to technological innovation and its link to ICT (Information Communication Technology).