Microhistories of Technology - Making the World (Hardcover, 1st ed. 2023)

In this open access book, Mikael Hard tells a story of how people around the world challenged the production techniques and products brought by globalization. Retaining their autonomy and freedom, creative individuals selectively adopted or rejected modern gadgets, tools, and machines. In standard historical narratives, globalization is portrayed as an unstoppable force that flattens all obstacles in its path. Modern technology is also seen as inexorable: in the nineteenth century, steamships, telegraph lines, and Gatling guns are said to have paved the way for colonialism and other forms of dominating people and societies. Later, shipping containers and computer networks purportedly pulled the planet deeper into a maelstrom of capitalism. Hard discusses instances that push back against these narratives. For example, in Soviet times, inhabitants of Samarkand, Uzbekistan, preferred to remain in-and expand-their own mud-brick houses rather than move into prefabricated, concrete residential buildings. Similarly, nineteenth-century Sumatran carpenters ignored the saws brought to them by missionaries-and chose to chop down trees with their arch-bladed adzes. And people in colonial India successfully competed with capitalist-run Caribbean sugar plantations, continuing to produce their own muscovado and sell it to local consumers. This book invites readers to view the history of technology and material culture through the lens of diversity. Based on research funded by the European Research Council and conducted in the Global South, Microhistories of Technology: Making the World shows that the spread of modern technologies did not erase artisanal production methods and traditional tools.

General

Imprint:	Palgrave Macmillan
Country of origin:	Switzerland
Series:	Palgrave Studies in the History of Science and Technology
Release date:	March 2023
First published:	2023
Authors:	Mikael Hard
Dimensions:	210 x 148mm (L x W)
Format:	Hardcover
Pages:	300
Edition:	1st ed. 2023
ISBN-13:	978-3-03-122812-4
Categories:	Books > Reference & Interdisciplinary > Interdisciplinary studies > Globalization Books > Professional & Technical > Technology: general issues > History of engineering & technology Books > Humanities > History > World history > General Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political ideologies > Imperialism Books > History > World history > General
LSN:	3-03-122812-X
Barcode:	9783031228124

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