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020 _a9789819787081
_9978-981-97-8708-1
024 7 _a10.1007/978-981-97-8708-1
_2doi
050 4 _aGN397-397.7
072 7 _aJHM
_2bicssc
072 7 _aSOC002000
_2bisacsh
072 7 _aJHM
_2thema
100 1 _aBatteau, Allen.
_eauthor.
_4aut
_4http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/aut
_990764
245 1 0 _aTools, Totems, and Totalities
_h[electronic resource] :
_bThe Modern Construction of Hegemonic Technology /
_cby Allen Batteau, Christine Z. Miller.
250 _a1st ed. 2024.
264 1 _aSingapore :
_bSpringer Nature Singapore :
_bImprint: Springer,
_c2024.
300 _aXXI, 210 p. 36 illus., 29 illus. in color.
_bonline resource.
336 _atext
_btxt
_2rdacontent
337 _acomputer
_bc
_2rdamedia
338 _aonline resource
_bcr
_2rdacarrier
347 _atext file
_bPDF
_2rda
505 0 _aTechnology and Cultural Imagination -- The Invention of Technology -- The Prehistory of Technology -- Perspectives: Engineering -- Perspectives: Philosophy -- Perspectives: Sociology and Anthropology -- Technology and Economic Values -- Technology and Citizenship -- Technology and the Human Community -- Optimization and Brittleness -- Techno-narcissism -- Conclusion: Toward the Post-Technological Age.
520 _aThis book provides a critical perspective on technology, answering the questions of why technologies often disappoint. It takes a sociotechnical and historical perspective on technology, as developed by an engineer–anthropologist and a design anthropologist, to answer questions not only about why modern societies have great expectations of technology, but also of why these technologies often fail to meet expectations. Modern societies often search for technological solutions (“technofixes”) to what are institutional problems, which include border crossings or urban mobility, or improvements in productivity or improved communication. It is disappointing when technofixes, whether border walls or driverless cars or social media, fail to live up to their promises of greater personal autonomy (such as afforded by driverless cars) or improved social harmony through social media. Examining technology from the perspectives of instrumentality (“tools”), identity (“totems”), and world-defining systems (“totalities”) develops a comprehensive perspective that is at once historically informed and cross-culturally accurate. Although instrumentality is obvious and is at the core of any understanding of technology, identity is less so; yet many modern “tribes” create their identity in terms of technological objects and systems, whether transport systems (cars and airplanes) or social media or weapons (guns). Further, modern technologies span the globe, so that they exert imperative coordination over distant populations; the use of cell phones around the world is testimony to this fact. Such a critical perspective on technology can be useful in policy discussions of numerous issues affecting contemporary institutions.
650 0 _aApplied anthropology.
650 0 _aEthnology.
_958687
650 0 _aScience
_xHistory.
_965232
650 0 _aTechnology.
_958482
650 0 _aHistory.
650 0 _aTechnology
_xPhilosophy.
_968026
650 1 4 _aApplied Anthropology.
650 2 4 _aSociocultural Anthropology.
_971227
650 2 4 _aHistory of Science.
_966101
650 2 4 _aHistory of Technology.
_966100
650 2 4 _aPhilosophy of Technology.
_968027
700 1 _aMiller, Christine Z.
_eauthor.
_4aut
_4http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/aut
_971568
710 2 _aSpringerLink (Online service)
773 0 _tSpringer Nature eBook
776 0 8 _iPrinted edition:
_z9789819787074
776 0 8 _iPrinted edition:
_z9789819787098
776 0 8 _iPrinted edition:
_z9789819787104
856 4 0 _uhttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-8708-1
912 _aZDB-2-SLS
912 _aZDB-2-SXS
999 _c66692
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