Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
The international politics of technology is an emerging, cutting-edge field of research within the discipline, yet one that students find difficult to access as it current has no core texts and no convenient entry point. This book will address this gap in an interesting and informative manner.
Technology and World Politics will introduce students to different approaches to technology in global politics through a survey of traditional and emerging theoretical approaches to the subject and, in turn, how such theoretical approaches can be used to analysis the diverse international political processes of, for example, Internet governance, the Revolution in Military Affairs, Nuclear Weapons and Weapons of Mass Destruction, Technologies of the Global Economy, and so forth.
This textbook will introduce students to theoretical approaches that move beyond technological determinist or instrumentalist approaches the dominant traditional take on technology within the field to outline new work that stresses the socially constructed and inherently political nature of technological objects. It will offer students clear outlines of the main emerging theoretical approaches to the politics of technology, discussing approaches such as the Social Construction of Technology (SCOT), Actor-Network Theory (ANT), the Critical Theory of Technology, and poststructuralist engagements such as the New Materialism in order to give students the theoretical background to approach the politics of technology in a sophisticated manner. In contrast to works that focus upon the politics of a particular technology, this volume will offer a set of overarching approaches which students may engage with to approach any number of specific issue areas, such as those outlined above.
With a broader scope and a broader reach than the issue-specific works currently available, this work will be a vital resource for students and scholars alike.
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Synopsis
This edited volume provides a convenient entry point to the cutting-edge field of the international politics of technology, in an interesting and informative manner. Technology and World Politics introduces its readers to different approaches to technology in global politics through a survey of emerging fusions of Science and Technology Studies and International Relations. The theoretical approaches to the subject include the Social Construction of Technology, Actor-Network Theory, the Critical Theory of Technology, and New Materialist and Posthumanist approaches.
Considering how such theoretical approaches can be used to analyse concrete political issues such as the politics of nuclear weapons, Internet governance, shipping containers, the revolution in military affairs, space technologies, and the geopolitics of the Anthropocene, the volume stresses the socially constructed and inherently political nature of technological objects.
Providing the theoretical background to approach the politics of technology in a sophisticated manner alongside a glossary and guide to further reading for newcomers, this volume is a vital resource for both students and scholars focusing on politics and international relations.