What is the real impact of technology on our cultural and political lives? Are the proponents of megatechnology and the global economy correct to assume that there will always be newer be newer technological solutions to all the world's problems? Fifty visionary environmentalists, scientists, scholars, and social critics grapple with these questions and expose the links between the character of megatechnology and the social and ecological crises of our time.

Stephanie Mills presents the ideas and opinions of many of the world's most important critics of biotechnology, free trade, corporate colonialism, the proliferation of military technologies, and technological means of social control in a fascinating and lively survey of the proceedings of two historic conferences. Refusing to offer superficial solutions to our current environmental and social problems, participants from Europe, North America, and Asia maintain that technology is never neutral, but that the totality of a given technology's effects, not just its intended benefits must be taken into account. Turning Away From Technology is an invaluable conceptual tool because it offers a probing analysis of the big technological picture and describes a realistic, humane, and sustainable future.

Contributors: Frederique Apffel-Marglin, Wendell Berry, Paul Blau, Chet, Bowers, Beth Burrows, Fritjof, Capra, Clifford Cobb, Martha Crouch, John Davis, Richard Douthwaite, Gustavo Esteva, Per Gahrton, Chellis Glendinming, Edward Goldsmith, Susan Griffin, Elisabet Hermodsson, Sandy Irvine, Martin Khor, Andrew Kimbrell, David Korten, Satish Kumar, Sigmund Kvaloy, John Lane, Jerry Mander, Andrew McLaughlin, Ralph Metzner, Maria Mies, Stephanie Mills, John Mohawk, Ashis Nandy, Helena Norberg-Hodge, Godfrey Reggio, Jeremy Rifkin, Kirkpatrick Sale, Michiel Schwarz, Richard Sclove, George Sessions, Vandana Shiva, Sulak Sivaraksa, Charlene Spretnak, David Suzuki, Doug Tompkins, and Lamgdon Winner.

Stephanie Mills is the author of In Praise of Nature, In Service of the Wild and Whatever Happened to Ecology? Her articles have appeared in the Utne Reader, E Magazine, Whole Earth Review, and Raise the Stakes. She lives near Maple City, Michigan.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [239]-249) and index.