Technology, Society and Inequality; New Horizons and Contested Futures

ISBN-13: 9781433119705 / Angielski / Miękka / 2013 / 215 str.

Erika Cudworth; Peter Senker; Kathy Walker

Opis

Over the last 250 years, the global capitalist system has been responsible for rapid economic growth and technological change. The consequent increase in production of an ever-changing and expanding range of products and services has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and deprivation.
This book suggests, however, that the primary purpose of current production and distribution is not to satisfy human needs but to create profit for the owners of capital that in turn has devastating consequences for the environment and for vulnerable people.
Multidisciplinary in perspective, contributors to this volume addresses issues of inequality which affect both developed and developing countries. While they are concerned with the framework of income distribution they also explore the wider dynamics of capitalist systems of production and consumption and examine the dimensions of inequality from both an economic and socio/cultural perspective.
The book has three key themes: relations between technologies, inequalities and exploitation; issues surrounding technologies and development; and the nature of technologies and their associated opportunities in the face of the future. That future is contested, and in the present context of persistent inequalities, a debate about where we might be going and how we might get there is crucial. This book makes a trenchant and challenging contribution to this debate.

Recenzje

«The Great Recession, a world-wide economic downturn without equal since the 1930s, laid bare the reality of inequality, not just between rich and poor countries but also within rich countries as well. From this gaping chasm escape still, small voices speaking about the problematic nature of progress and role of new technologies in fostering that inequality. Erika Cudworth, Peter Senker and Kathy Walker have orchestrated some of those voices here in this provocative volume. Through rich case studies and analysis that is both sophisticated and sensitive, they rouse us not just from our technological somnambulism but from our moral indifference and put inequality squarely back onto the innovation policy agenda.» (Professor David H. Guston, Arizona State University)
«I welcome this book's focus on exploring the inequalities and social implications of technical change. It contributes to a much-needed debate on how to engender inclusive innovation, enabling participation of those not usually involved in innovation processes. It also reminds us of the ways in which our lifestyles shape technical choices and why we need to think more carefully about our impact on the natural environment.» (Professor David Gann, CBE, Imperial College, London)

Spis treści

Contents: Alvaro de Miranda: Technology and the Individualization of Consumption: The Development of Personal Computing - Richard Sharpe: The ICT Value Chain: Perpetuating Inequalities - Erika Cudworth: Climate Change, Industrial Animal Agriculture and Complex Inequalities: Developments in the Politics of Food Insecurity - Miriam Mukasa: The Cultural Implications of the Consumption of ICTs for Development - Peter Senker: Health Care Systems, Technology and Inequality - Allyson Malatesta: Elearning or E(l)earning: Contemporary Developments in the Commodification and Consumption of Education - Peter Senker: Arable Agriculture, Food, Technology Choice and Inequality - Kathy Walker: Invisible Medium, Virtual Commodity: Changing Perspectives on the Radio Spectrum: From Public Good to Private Gain? - Charlotte Chadderton: Secondary Schools Under Surveillance: Young People 'As' Risk in the UK. An Exploration of the Neoliberal Shift from Compassion to Repression - Maxine Newlands: Reclaiming the Media: Technology, Tactics and Subversion - Erika Cudworth/Peter Senker/Kathy Walker: Conclusions: New Horizons and Contested Futures.

O autorze

Erika Cudworth is Reader in Politics and Sociology at the University of East London. She is author of several books including Environment and Society (2003) and Developing Ecofeminist Theory (2005) and co-author of others including Posthuman International Relations: Complexity, Ecologism and International Politics (2011).
Peter Senker was a Visiting Professor at the University of East London between 1995 and 2011, and a Senior Fellow at SPRU, University of Sussex between 1972 and 1995. He is co-editor of The Myths of Technology: Innovation and Inequality (Peter Lang, 2009) and Technology and In/equality: Questioning the Information Society (2000).
Kathy Walker is Senior Lecturer in Media and Communications at the University of East London, leader of the Communication Studies degree programme and Director of the Society, Technology and Inequality Research Group (STIR). She is co-editor of The Myths of Technology: Innovation and Inequality (Peter Lang, 2009).