Society and Technological Change

Title Page......Page 2
Copyright Page......Page 3
About the Author......Page 14
Preface......Page 15
PART ONE: Defining Technology......Page 20
Chapter 1: The Nature of Technology......Page 22
Defining Technology......Page 24
Technological Advance and the Image of Progress......Page 31
Technology as a Metaphor......Page 37
Technology and Rationality......Page 40
Technological Determinism......Page 46
Living in a Technological Society......Page 49
Questions for Discussion......Page 51
Chapter 2: Winners and Losers: The Differential Effects of Technological Change......Page 52
Technology as a Subversive Force......Page 54
The Luddites......Page 60
Neo-Luddism......Page 62
Whose Technology?......Page 64
What Technology Can Do—And What It Cannot Do......Page 66
Questions for Discussion......Page 78
PART TWO: The Process of Technological Change......Page 79
Chapter 3: The Sources of Technological Change......Page 81
Technological Change as a Social Process......Page 82
The Great Breakthrough......Page 84
The “D” in R&D......Page 87
Putting It All Together......Page 89
Clearing Bottlenecks through Technology Transfer......Page 92
Supply and Demand: The “Push” and the “Pull”......Page 94
Belated Demand: The Question of Market Timing......Page 98
How Market Economies Drive Technological Innovation......Page 101
Obstacles to Innovation in Centrally Planned Economies......Page 103
Noneconomic Sources of Technological Advance......Page 105
Questions for Discussion......Page 112
Chapter 4: Scientific Knowledge and Technological Advance......Page 113
The Historical Separation of Science and Technology......Page 114
Studies of Contemporary Science–Technology Relationships......Page 117
How Technology Differs from Science......Page 119
How Technology Facilitates Scientific Discovery......Page 124
Legitimating Science through Technology......Page 129
The Translation of Science into Technology......Page 132
The Commonalities of Science and Technology......Page 136
Questions for Discussion......Page 141
Chapter 5: The Diffusion of Technology......Page 142
Technology on the Move......Page 143
Clever Copyists......Page 150
Adaptation and Adoption......Page 152
Learning to Make Steel in Old Japan......Page 155
Appropriate Technology......Page 157
Organizations and Technological Diffusion......Page 162
A Risky Business......Page 164
The NIH Syndrome......Page 166
Efforts to Restrict the Diffusion of Technology......Page 167
Patents and the Diffusion of Technology......Page 169
Questions for Discussion......Page 174
PART THREE: How Technology Affects the Health of Earth and Its Inhabitants......Page 175
Chapter 6: Technology, Energy, and the Environment......Page 177
Fossil Fuels, Air Pollution, and Climate Change......Page 179
A Planet under Stress......Page 184
Is Technology the Problem or the Solution?......Page 187
Some Technological Fixes of the Past......Page 189
Alternatives to Fossil Fuels......Page 192
Doing More with Less......Page 200
More Miles to the Gallon......Page 203
Economic Systems, Government Policies, and the Environment......Page 206
Questions for Discussion......Page 210
Chapter 7: Medical Technologies......Page 212
New Medical Technologies: Choices and Trade-offs......Page 216
The Case of Kidney Dialysis......Page 217
Replacing Broken Hearts......Page 224
Diagnostic Technologies......Page 229
Medical Technologies and Medical Ethics......Page 233
New Ways of Making and Sustaining Babies......Page 234
When Does Life End? When Should It?......Page 237
Halfway Technologies......Page 239
Questions for Discussion......Page 240
Chapter 8: Genetic Technologies......Page 241
The Genetic Fix......Page 242
Discovering Genes and Patenting Them......Page 244
Bioengineering on the Farm......Page 246
Genetic Mapping and Screening......Page 252
Cloning, Present and Future......Page 254
Stem Cells and Future Therapies......Page 259
The Perils of Genetic Intervention......Page 261
Questions for Discussion......Page 266
PART FOUR: Technology and the Transformation of Work......Page 267
Chapter 9: Work in Nonindustrial Societies......Page 269
Working with the Earliest Tools......Page 270
Work and Leisure in Technologically Primitive Societies......Page 272
Work and the Development of Agriculture......Page 276
Farming Techniques and Patterns of Work......Page 278
The Ironies of Progress......Page 282
Urbanization, Specialization, and Economic Relationships......Page 283
Guild Organization and Technological Change......Page 287
Slavery and the Inhibition of Technological Development......Page 291
The Measurement of Time and Changed Working Patterns......Page 293
The Clock......Page 295
Questions for Discussion......Page 300
Chapter 10: Technology and Jobs: More of One and Less of the Other?......Page 301
The Technological Threat in Historical Perspective......Page 303
A Case for Optimism......Page 305
How Technology Creates Jobs......Page 309
The Indirect Effects of New Technologies on Employment......Page 311
The Machines Aren’t Ready to Take Over......Page 313
Technology, Jobs, and the Changing Structure of the Economy......Page 316
Technology and the Distribution of Income......Page 321
Technology, Globalization, and Jobs......Page 326
Rebounding from Job Losses......Page 329
Benefits, but Disruption Too......Page 331
Questions for Discussion......Page 333
Chapter 11: Technological Change and Life on the Job......Page 334
Industrial Production......Page 335
Machine-Paced Labor......Page 338
Is Technology to Blame?......Page 342
Industrial Technology and the Division of Labor......Page 345
Scientific Management Once Again......Page 348
Industrial Work and Recent Technological Developments......Page 351
Technological Change and White-Collar Work......Page 353
Telework......Page 357
The “Gig Economy”......Page 361
Smart Technologies and Dumb Jobs?......Page 363
Questions for Discussion......Page 366
PART FIVE: Communication......Page 367
Chapter 12: Printing......Page 369
The Printing Revolution......Page 371
Printing and the Expansion of Knowledge......Page 375
Printing and the Rise of Protestantism......Page 377
Printing, Literacy, and Social Change......Page 379
Psychological Effects of Printing......Page 382
Newspapers......Page 384
Digitizing the News......Page 390
Reading Digitally......Page 393
Questions for Discussion......Page 396
Chapter 13: The Electronic Media: From the Telegraph to Television......Page 397
The Invention of Radio......Page 399
The Origins of Commercial Radio......Page 402
The Rise of Television......Page 406
The Federal Government Steps In......Page 408
The Television-Viewing Public......Page 413
Violence on Television and Its Consequences......Page 414
Delivering the News......Page 418
Television and Politics......Page 421
Television and Thought......Page 424
Questions for Discussion......Page 427
Chapter 14: The Internet Age......Page 428
The Birth and Growth of the Internet......Page 429
Social Media and the Network Effect......Page 432
Mobile Communications......Page 436
Social Media and Social Movements......Page 438
The Digital Divide......Page 443
Video Games......Page 445
Intellectual Property......Page 449
Privacy in the Digital Age......Page 453
The Electronic Media in Modern Society......Page 455
Questions for Discussion......Page 457
PART SIX: The Tools of Destruction......Page 459
Chapter 15: Weapons and Their Consequences......Page 461
Military Technology in the Ancient World......Page 462
Military Technology and the Feudal Order......Page 465
New Weapons and the Decline of Feudalism......Page 467
The Gunpowder Revolution......Page 471
War and the Centralized State......Page 477
Technological Change and Naval Culture in the Era of the Battleship......Page 479
Weapons and the Making of the Modern World......Page 481
Questions for Discussion......Page 488
Chapter 16: The Era of Smart Weapons......Page 489
Cruise Missiles......Page 490
Smart Bombs......Page 493
High-Tech Surveillance......Page 495
Drones......Page 496
The Cost of Technological Sophistication......Page 499
Asymmetrical Warfare......Page 501
Cyberterrorism and Cyberattacks......Page 507
Military Technologies in a Changing World......Page 511
Questions for Discussion......Page 514
Chapter 17: How New Weapons Emerge—And How They May Be Contained......Page 515
Action and Reaction......Page 516
Social Structure and the Development of Military Technologies......Page 518
Expanding the Scale and Scope of War......Page 530
Industrial Technology in the Service of War......Page 533
Controlling Military Technologies......Page 538
The Perils of Proliferation......Page 551
Questions for Discussion......Page 553
PART SEVEN: The Shaping and Control of Technology......Page 554
Chapter 18: Technology and Its Creators: Who’s in Charge of Whom?......Page 555
Technological Advance and Cultural Lag......Page 556
Technology, Globalization, and Cultural Convergence......Page 559
Experts, Expertise, and the Shaping of Technology......Page 566
Engineers and the Control of Technology......Page 571
Questions for Discussion......Page 579
Chapter 19: Organizations and Technological Change......Page 580
Technology as a Cause of Organizational Structure......Page 581
Technology as a Consequence of Organizational Structure......Page 589
Organizational Size and Technological Innovation......Page 595
Organizations and New Information Technologies......Page 599
Interorganizational Relations and Technological Development......Page 604
Entrepreneurs and Organizations......Page 606
Questions for Discussion......Page 610
Chapter 20: Governing Technology......Page 611
Government Actions and the Shaping of Technology......Page 612
Paying for Science and Technology......Page 616
But Is It Really Necessary?......Page 619
Government Institutions for the Guidance of Technology......Page 621
How Government Policies Shape Technological Change......Page 624
The Democratic Control of Technology......Page 630
The Challenges of the Future......Page 636
Questions for Discussion......Page 638
Notes......Page 639
Index......Page 699