These thirteen essays explore a crucial historical question that has been                  notoriously hard to pin down: To what extent, and by what means, does a society's                  technology determine its political, social, economic, and cultural forms?Karl Marx                  launched the modern debate on determinism with his provocative remark that "the                  hand-mill gives you society with the feudal lord; the steam-mill, society with the                  industrial capitalist," and a classic article by Robert Heilbroner (reprinted here)                  renewed the debate within the context of the history of technology. This book                  clarifies the debate and carries it forward.Marx's position has become embedded in                  our culture, in the form of constant reminders as to how our fast-changing                  technologies will alter our lives. Yet historians who have looked closely at where                  technologies really come from generally support the proposition that technologies                  are not autonomous but are social products, susceptible to democratic controls. The                  issue is crucial for democratic theory. These essays tackle it head-on, offering a                  deep look at all the shadings of determinism and assessing determinist models in a                  wide variety of historical contexts.Contributors : Bruce Bimber. Richard W. Bulliet.                  Robert L. Heilbroner. Thomas P. Hughes. Leo Marx. Thomas J. Misa. Peter C. Perdue.                  Philip Scranton. Merritt Roe Smith. Michael L. Smith. John M. Staudenmaier. Rosalind                  Williams.

Does technology drive history?: the dilemma of technological determinism PDF

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