Myths of Technology

The Editors: Judith Burnett is Associate Dean in the School of Social Sciences at the University of East London. Her research explores social change, particularly in the area of lifecourse, cohorts, and generations. She has published in the area of generations and social theory, and the emergence of thirty-something as an age based identity and generational experience. Peter Senker is Visiting Professor at the University of East London. He initiated and co-edited the book Technology and In/Equality: Questioning the Information Society. He has published widely including (with Rodrigo Arocena) ‘Technology, Inequality and Underdevelopment: The Case of Latin America’ in the Journal of Science, Technology and Human Values.Kathy Walker is Senior Lecturer in Media and Communications at the University of East London. Her research interests include the development of new communication technologies, media policy and regulation, and public service broadcasting. She has published in these areas.

• Contents: Wiebe E. Bijker: Foreword – Judith Burnett/Peter Senker/Kathy Walker: Introduction – Alvaro de Miranda: Technological Determinism and Ideology: Questioning the ‘Information Society’ and the ‘Digital Divide’ – Richard Sharpe: Inequalities in the Globalised Knowledge-Based Economy – Bernard Kahane: Old Wine in New Bottles: How New Technology Recycles Old Myths – Richard Sharpe: Brains, Generations and One Last Push: Myths Used to Establish and Sustain the Computer Industry – Linda Stepulevage: ERP in Higher Education: The Reinforcement of Myths – Kathy Walker: Reality Check: Interactivity, Reality Television and Empowerment – Delia Langstone: Myths, Crimes and Videotape – Erika Cudworth: Nature, Culture, Technology: Myths and Inequalities in the Posthuman Zoo – Mark Davis/Paul Flowers: Myth and HIV Medical Technologies: Perspectives from the ‘Transitions in HIV’ Project – Paul Nightingale/Paul Martin: The Myth of the Biotech Revolution – Peter Senker/Joanna Chataway: The Myths of Agricultural Biotechnology – Judith Burnett/Peter Senker/Kathy Walker: Epilogue.

«Judith Burnett, Peter Senker, and Kathy Walker have fashioned a distinctive volume that will engage you to think more deeply about the societal consequences of new technologies and why new technologies so often fall short in meeting expectations. This is a book of interdisciplinary construction and relevance. Using the central concept of the technological myth, the international contributors to the book examine a range of social claims ascribed to technology from such domains as computing, biotechnology and medicine, crime prevention, the media, education, and agriculture. They explain not only why new technology does not always lead to the desired solution or impact but also why modern societies continue to believe – or at least be told – that the next round of new technology will provide the fix. Importantly, the arguments of new technology’s proponents and opponents are each critically assessed and put in historical and contemporary context. You may not agree with everything in this book, but after you have read it you will be better prepared to prod and probe assertions about new technology and its relationships to social processes of development, equity, and change.» (Philip Shapira, Professor, School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA; and the Manchester Institute of Innovation Research, University of Manchester, United Kingdom)«This book contributes to broadening and deepening debates on technological innovation and its social significance and implications. It will be a valuable resource for students interested in a variety of subjects relating to technology policy and the management of technological change.» (David Gann, Professor and Head of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Tanaka Business School and Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College London)«‘The Myths of Technology’ is a must-read for all those who want to think about technology beyond any narrow parochial perspective. It fills an important gap in the literature and is to be highly recommended for both undergraduate and postgraduate audiences, and to policy makers and academia generally.» (T. G. Whiston, Emeritus Professor, Environmental Regulation, Roskilde University, Denmark; Honorary Professor, Science and Technology Policy, SPRU Sussex University, United Kingdom)«This is a welcome collection on an ever-important topic – exploring the relationship between the hype and reality of new technologies. It is an accessible introduction to the myths of technology that will be of particular interest to students entering this interdisciplinary field.» (Flis Henwood, Professor, School of Computing, Mathematical and Information Sciences, University of Brighton, United Kingdom)