The Real World of Technology

Paperback, 209 pages

English language

Published Jan. 4, 1999 by Anansi.

ISBN:: 978-0-88784-636-6

(2 reviews)

In this expanded edition of her bestselling 1989 CBC Massey Lectures, renowned scientist and humanitarian Ursula M. Franklin examines the impact of technology upon our lives and addresses the extraordinary changes since The Real World of Technology was first published.

In four new chapters, Franklin tackles contentious issues, such as the dilution of privacy and intellectual property rights, the impact of the current technology on government and governance, the shift from consumer capitalism to investment capitalism, and the influence of the Internet upon the craft of writing.

3 editions

loppear reviewed The Real World of Technology by Ursula M. Franklin (CBC Massey lecture series)

very insightful in a short space

4 stars

Impressive set of lectures on the societal implications of technology - broadly, from ancient metalworking to sewing machines to electrification to military industrial arms - from a feminist pacifist horizontalist perspective. Franklin highlights ways in which technical choices obscure moving from holistically artisan to hierarchical control, from biological growth and uncertainty to manufacturing's obliviousness to context, and the false claims of liberation or ease from the introduction of new tech which turns to exploitation and makes us dependent on industrial supply and control.

sarah reviewed The Real World of Technology by Ursula M. Franklin (CBC Massey lecture series)

feminism & pacifism meet technology & engineering

5 stars

This is sheer delight and smarts. I wanted a feminist working out of how gender and society interact with technologies, and this is it. I'm so taken I'm actually thinking I might listen to the CBC's recordings of the original lectures as I try to work out how this might help me thinking about feminist bibliography.

Subjects

Technology -- Social aspects.