Technology for Development

by Smith, James

• ISBN13: 9781848132016
• ISBN10: 1848132018
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-10-15
• Publisher: UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS

Summary

This book employs a critical sociology to focus on science and technology and their relationship to development. While "knowledge" and the ways it is created and privileged has been increasingly critiqued, the specific role of technology in shaping development has received little focus. Science and technology are not neutral but shape their context and are shaped dialectically in return. Organized around key ideas and debates and using case study material from Africa, Latin American and Asia, a range of technologies are examined, including biotechnology, tissue culture technology, bioenergy and "appropriate technologies," ICT, genomics and pharmaceuticals, vaccine developments, and nanotechnologies. Asking among other questions if the promise of future technological breakthroughs actually work to distance meaningful development from the present, this book is essential reading for all students of development.

Author Biography

James Smith is a Lecturer in African Studies at the University of Edinburgh, UK.

Table of Contents

Introduction * Knowledge, power and development * Institutions and networks as sites of technology * Seeking a third way of knowledge: Whose knowledge counts? Whose technology works? * The (anti-)politics of technology * Science, technology and the shaping of a developmental future * Conclusion