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From the everyday and unnoticed to the newsworthy and cutting edge, technology is undoubtedly a fundamental element of our daily lives. While saving us time and effort, it can also shape our environment, mediate our relationships, and simultaneously solve problems and create new ones. In studying technology we gain an insight into how societyis constructed, maintained and transformed.Unravelling and explaining the complex connections between technology and the social contexts in which it is used, hnology and Social Theory guides the reader through 150 years of thinking in this ever evolving field. The chapters critically evaluate a broad range of theorists, from Marx to Foucault, Orwell to Elias, alongside empirical examples which show theory in action. The significance of technology is assessed within both public spheres and intimate spaces, shedding light on its integral role in society.Showing how theory maps the way for further research, and in turn how new advances in research can inform theory, this book is invaluable reading for students and researchers in Sociology, Social theory, Science and Technology Studies and the Media.>
Sommario
Introduction
Theorising Technology
Marx, Modernity and the Machine
Constructing the Modern: Human-Built World
The Politics of Artefacts
The Social Construction of Technology
The Socio-Technical Construction of Society: Actor-Network Theory
Left to Our Own Devices: Subjective Machines
Objective Life: Things and Social Theory
Conclusion: We Have Always Been Posthuman
Bibliography
Index.
Info autore
STEVE MATTHEWMAN is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Auckland, New Zealand.
