Society and Technological Change, Fourth Edition

by Volti

• ISBN13: 9781572599529
• ISBN10: 1572599529
• Edition: 4th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-11-30
• Publisher: Worth Publishers

Summary

Technology is a basic feature of all human societies. Virtually every aspect of our lives is affected by technology, while at the same time the development and use of particular technologies are strongly affected by cultural, social, political, and economic arrangements. "Society and Technological Change" provides a comprehensive introduction to the interactions of society and technology. The new fifth edition includes coverage of such timely topics as cloning, stem-cell research, genetically modified foods, terrorism, intellectual property, and the global impact of the internet. This up-to-date revision will be a useful resource for a variety of college and university courses.

Table of Contents

Preface	xiii
part One Orientations	1	(32)
The Nature of Technology	3	(14)
Defining Technology	4	(4)
Technological Advance and the Image of Progress	8	(2)
Technology as a Metaphor	10	(1)
Technology and Rationality	11	(4)
Questions for Discussion	15	(1)
Notes	15	(2)
Winners and Losers: The Differential Effects of Technological Change	17	(16)
Technology as a Subversive Force	17	(4)
The Luddites	21	(1)
Neo-Luddism	22	(1)
Whose Technology?	23	(1)
What Technology Can Do---And What It Cannot Do	24	(1)
The Technological Fix	24	(2)
Why Technology Can't Always Fix It	26	(2)
The Appeal of Technocracy	28	(1)
The Technocrat's Delusion	29	(1)
Questions for Discussion	30	(1)
Notes	31	(2)
part two The Process of Technological Change	33	(94)
The Sources of Technological Change	35	(19)
The Great Breakthrough	35	(1)
It All Adds Up	36	(1)
The ``D'' in R&D	37	(1)
All Together Now	38	(4)
The Social Context of Technological Change	42	(2)
Belated Demand	44	(2)
Market Economies and Technological Advance	46	(2)
Noneconomic Sources of Technological Advance	48	(3)
Questions for Discussion	51	(1)
Notes	52	(2)
Scientific Knowledge and Technological Advance	54	(15)
The Historical Separation of Science and Technology	54	(1)
Studies of Contemporary Science---Technology Relationships	55	(1)
How Technology Differs from Science	56	(2)
How Technology Stimulates Scientific Discovery	58	(2)
Indirect Effects of Technology on Scientific Advance	60	(2)
The Commonalities of Science and Technology	62	(2)
The Translation of Science into Technology	64	(2)
Questions for Discussion	66	(1)
Notes	66	(3)
The Diffusion of Technology	69	(19)
The International Diffusion of Technology	69	(4)
Clever Copyists	73	(1)
Adaptation and Adoption	74	(1)
A Japanese Example	74	(1)
Appropriate Technology	75	(4)
Business Firms and Technological Diffusion	78	(1)
Economic Motives and Technology Transfer	79	(2)
A Risky Business	81	(1)
The NIH Syndrome	82	(1)
Efforts to Restrict the Diffusion of Technology	82	(1)
Patents and the Diffusion of Technology	83	(2)
Questions for Discussion	85	(1)
Notes	86	(2)
Technology, Energy, and the Environment	88	(19)
Fossil Fulels, Air Pollution, and Climate Change	89	(2)
A Planet under Stress	91	(2)
Is Technology the Problem or the Solution?	93	(1)
Some Technological Fixes of the Past	93	(2)
Alternatives to Fossil Fuels	95	(3)
Doing More with Less	98	(1)
More Miles to the Gallon	99	(2)
Economic Systems, Government Policies, and the Environment	101	(3)
Questions for Discussion	104	(1)
Notes	105	(2)
Medical and Biological Technologies	107	(20)
The Dilemmas of New Technologies	109	(1)
The Case of Kidney Dialysis	109	(3)
Replacing Broken Hearts	112	(2)
Halfway Technologies	114	(1)
Diagnostic Technologies	115	(5)
The Genetic Fix	117	(3)
The Commercialization of Genetic Technologies	120	(1)
Controlling Biotechnology	121	(2)
Questions for Discussion	123	(1)
Notes	123	(4)
part three Technology and the Transformation of Work	127	(52)
Work in Nonindustrial Societies	129	(16)
Working with the Earliest Tools	129	(2)
Work and Leisure in Technologically Primitive Societies	131	(1)
Work and the Development of Agriculture	132	(1)
Farming Techniques and Patterns of Work	133	(2)
The Ironies of Progress	135	(1)
Artisan and Craft Work	136	(1)
Guild Organization and Technological Change	137	(1)
Slavery and the Inhibition of Technological Development	138	(1)
The Measurement of Time and Changed Working Patterns	139	(1)
The Clock	140	(2)
Questions for Discussion	142	(1)
Notes	143	(2)
Technology and Jobs: More of One and Less of the Other?	145	(14)
The Threat of Machine-Made Unemployment	145	(1)
The Technological Threat in Historical Perspective	146	(1)
A Case for Optimism	147	(1)
How Technology Creates Jobs	148	(1)
The Indirect Effects of New Technologies on Employment	149	(1)
The Machines Aren't Ready to Take Over	150	(2)
Technology, Jobs, and the Changing Structure of the Economy	152	(2)
Softening the Blow	154	(2)
Benefits, but Disruption Too	156	(1)
Questions for Discussion	157	(1)
Notes	157	(2)
Technological Change and Life on the Job	159	(20)
Industrial Production	159	(2)
Machine-Paced Labor	161	(2)
Is Technology to Blame?	163	(2)
Industrial Technology and the Division of Labor	165	(3)
Scientific Management Once Again	168	(1)
Industrial Work and Recent Technological Developments	169	(1)
Technological Change and White-Collar Work	170	(3)
Smart Technologies and Dumb Jobs?	173	(2)
Questions for Discussion	175	(1)
Notes	175	(4)
part four Communication	179	(40)
Printing	181	(14)
The Printing Revolution	182	(2)
Printing and the Expansion of Knowledge	184	(1)
Printing and the Rise of Protestantism	185	(1)
Printing, Literacy, and Social Change	186	(2)
Psychological Effects of Printing	188	(1)
Newspapers	189	(2)
Circulation Wars and the Shaping of Public Opinion	191	(2)
Questions for Discussion	193	(1)
Notes	193	(2)
The Electronic Media	195	(24)
The Invention of Radio	195	(2)
The Origins of Commercial Radio	197	(1)
The Rise of Television	198	(1)
The Federal Government Steps In	199	(2)
Problems of Regulation	201	(1)
The Television-Viewing Public	202	(1)
Violence on Television and Its Consequences	203	(3)
Television, Information, and News	206	(1)
Television and Politics	207	(3)
Television and Thought	210	(1)
Computer Networks and the Internet	211	(2)
The Digital Divide	213	(1)
The Electronic Media in Modern Society	214	(1)
Questions for Discussion	215	(1)
Notes	215	(4)
part five The Tools of Destruction	219	(44)
Weapons and Their Consequences	221	(18)
Military Technology in the Ancient World	221	(2)
Military Technology and the Feudal Order	223	(1)
New Weapons and the Decline of Feudalism	224	(2)
The Gunpowder Revolution	226	(3)
War and the Centralized State	229	(1)
Technological Change and Naval Culture in the Era of the Battleship	230	(1)
Weapons and the Making of the Modern World	231	(5)
Questions for Discussion	236	(1)
Notes	236	(3)
How New Weapons Emerge---And How They May Be Contained	239	(24)
Action and Reaction	239	(1)
Social Structure and the Development of Military Technologies	240	(5)
Organizational Interests and the Air Weapon	245	(1)
Social Revolution and the Enlargement of War	246	(2)
Industrial Technology in the Service of War	248	(3)
Controlling Military Technologies	250	(1)
Historical Attempts to Limit New Weapons	251	(1)
A Successful Example of Arms Control	252	(1)
Gun Control in Old Japan	253	(2)
The Control of Nuclear Weapons	255	(1)
Deterrence, but No More	255	(2)
The Perils of Proliferation	257	(2)
Questions for Discussion	259	(1)
Notes	259	(4)
part six The Shaping and Control of Technology	263	(48)
Technology and Its Creators: Who's in Charge of Whom?	265	(16)
Technological Determinism	265	(2)
Technological Advance and Cultural Lag	267	(1)
Convergence Theory	268	(2)
Technological Change and Social Relationships	270	(4)
Experts and Expertise	271	(3)
Engineers and the Control of Technology	274	(1)
The Work Environment of Engineers	275	(3)
Questions for Discussion	278	(1)
Notes	279	(2)
Organizations and Technological Change	281	(13)
Technology as a Cause of Organizational Structure	281	(3)
Technology as a Consequence of Organizational Structure	284	(3)
Interorganizational Relations and Technological Development	287	(1)
Organizational Size and Technological Innovation	288	(1)
Entrepreneurs and Organizations	289	(2)
Questions for Discussion	291	(1)
Notes	292	(2)
Governing Technology	294	(17)
Government Actions and the Shaping of Technology	294	(3)
But Is It Necessary?	297	(1)
Government Institutions for the Guidance of Technology	298	(2)
Processes	300	(4)
The Democratic Control of Technology	304	(3)
The Challenges of the Future	307	(1)
Questions for Discussion	308	(1)
Notes	308	(3)
Index	311