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The Online Technology and Society Reader |
| Part Three: Technology, Capitalism, and Globalization | |
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It is impossible to understand
technology without consideration of the socio-cultural system in which it
is imbedded. In a capitalist economy, the prime rationale for
technology is to accelerate economic growth. The major engines of
growth are transnational corporations. The following readings
explore both the increasing power of these corporations and examine,
directly or indirectly, the technologies and socio-political processes
that contribute to the growth in corporate power.
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| Reading 1. David Ransom (New Internationalist) - Globalization is industrial capitalism out of control | |
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David Ransom provides a
devastating critique of what has been termed
"globalization." A combination of runaway production made
possible by advanced technologies, and the quest for increasing profits by
trans-national corporations, creates both increasing pollution and
poverty. There are, however, some simple solutions if we only had
the will and means to implement them.
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| Reading 2. Charles Siegel (Earth Island) - The counterproductive end of economic growth | |
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A prerequisite of capitalist
economies is perpetual economic growth. Yet, as Siegal points out,
growth has its costs. These include increased health costs, decline
in educational standards and more work. In the early 20th century,
he says, economists believed that economic growth would stop when people
achieved a comfortable standard of living. Instead, he says, we have
fallen victim to insatiable need.
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| Reading 3.
a, Ignacio Ramonet (Le Monde Diplomatique) - Globalization: destruction of the collective good b. Pierre Bourdieu (Le Monde Diplomatique) The Essence of Neo-liberalism |
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Both of these articles from Le
Monde Diplomatique address the issue of privatization and the destruction
of collectivities. Ignacio Ramonet, in his brief article, outlines
the consequences of the concentration of power in hands of multinational
corporations. Pierre Bourdieu suggestions that it is the destruction
of collectivities--groups of people working together for the common
good--that captures the essense of globalization. As we shall see,
technology figures predominantly in both these processes.
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Reading 4. Tony Clark - Mechanisms of corporate rule |
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In this article,
Tony Clark outlines some of institutions and devices that transnational
corporations (TNCs) use to create markets and control production and
finance. He includes much of the technological infrastructure
necessary for corporate control.
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| Reading 5. David Korten (Business Ethics) - The difference between money and wealth | |
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The vocabulary of
finance, says Korten, obscures the difference between money and real
wealth. We have also, he says, substituted a capitalist economy for
a market economy. It is the capitalist economy that creates a
speculative frenzy that destroys real wealth.
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| Reading 6. Victor Menotti (The Ecologist) - Globalization and the acceleration of forest destruction | |
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There seems to be a
relentless march to environmental destruction, in spite of periodic
attempts to slow it down. Menotti notes that in spite of global
conferences, such as the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, forests
destruction continues at unprecedented rates. He attempts to show
how globalization--the rise of the power of transnational
corporations--has led to this situation.
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Since January 28, 2003