Technological Choices : Transformation in Material Cultures Since the Neolithic

ISBN-13: 9780415073318 / Angielski / Twarda / 1993 / 420 str.

Pierre Lemonnier

Opis

Technological Choices deals with the adoption or rejection by a society of certain technological techniques and the cultural processes which result in this selection. Lemonnier aims to demonstrate that in any society, such choices result from cultural values and social relations, rather than inherent benefits in the technology itself. This revolutionary viewpoint has crucial implications for current western societies. The book is based on case studies covering a wide chronological and geographic span - from neolithic Europe to modern industry via Papua New Guinea tribes, rural societies in India and North Africa, and several European peasant communities. Techniques studied range from the manufacture of stone implements to high-tech transportation devices.

Spis treści

Introduction: Pierre Lemonnier Chapter 1. North Wind, South Wind. Neolithic technical choices in the Jura Mountains, 3700-2400 BC, Pierre Petrequin Chapter 2. The Watch and the Waterclock. Technological choices/social choices, Genevieve Bedoucha Chapter 3. The Reindeerman's lasso, Tim Ingold Chapter 4. Pigs as Ordinary Wealth. Technical logic, exchange and leadership in New Guinea, Pierre Lemonnier Chapter 5. Pottery Techniques in India. Technical variants and social choice, Marie-Claude Mahias Chapter 6. Of Mills and Waterwheels. The hidden parameters of technological choices, Robert Cresswell Chapter 7. Technical Innovation and Cultural Resistance. The social weight of plowing in the vineyards of les Corbieres (Languedoc), Georges Guille-Escuret Chapter 8. The Hunter and his Gun in Haute-Provence, Nicolas Govoroff

O autorze

Pierre Lemonnier