Critique of Technology

Chapter
First Online:
Part of the Contemporary Issues in Technology Education book series (CITE)

Abstract

Diverse relationships to technology and media are expressed or emerge over time, including hopeful enthusiasm and critical resistance. For all the enthusiastic and critical analyses, there are few extensive histories of the critique of technology. This chapter historicizes critical relationships to technology, which range from detachment and skepticism to implicit resistance and explicit opposition or rejection. Relationships to technology and media have immediate implications for culture, economics, and education, but the focus here is on long-term historical implications. This begins with the spiritual critique of technology and proceeds historically through cultural, social, psychic, ontic, and identity critiques. In the final analysis, questions are raised for educators and researchers: If critique barely changes a thing, including youth consciousness, what is its utility? If it has been enough for criticism and critique to offer a counter to progress narratives, then how effective has this been?

Keywords

History Critique Cultural criticism Spirituality STS 
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Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.The University of British ColumbiaVancouverCanada

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