What do you think?
Rate this book
Society and Technological Change Third Edition
In the Sixth Edition of Society and Technological Change, Rudi Volti continues to bring both his enthusiasm and expertise to the student. Comprehensive in his discussion of both historical and contemporary technological advance, Volti never fails to explore the societal implications of each technology he presents. The new Sixth Edition has been fully updated to include recent technological innovation in such areas as genetics, communications, terrorism, and medicine. Further, updated photos throughout the book bring Volti's words to life.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
35 people are currently reading
254 people want to read
About the author
Rudi Volti
19 books1 followerRudi Volti is Emeritus Professor Sociology at Pitzer College, where he taught courses on the sociology of work and occupations, economic sociology, technology and society, and complex organizations.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
September 16, 2016
This one might open eyes.
What is technology? We seem to use the word now to mean, almost exclusively, consumer electronic devices of all sorts and how they are networked - or at the very least electronic enhancements to other systems. This can hardly be the case.
What is the difference between science and technology? How might we articulate that?
What is the relationship of technology to society? What is the difference between technology and society?
Why do any of these questions matter? Because if we are to be functional citizens of a democracy (dysfunctional as our own is, in the US) we need to at least try to understand the answers.
One thing Rudi Volti taught me through this text was this - and it seems to be absolute:
While technology gives to us something with the one hand, it takes something away with the other.
Some people will experience benefit, others will experience detriment. Government policies, and social engineering forces (unwitting or not) drive the course of benefit vs detriment. Not to consider these propositions leads us to a wealth of things and impoverishment of our humanity.
What is technology? We seem to use the word now to mean, almost exclusively, consumer electronic devices of all sorts and how they are networked - or at the very least electronic enhancements to other systems. This can hardly be the case.
What is the difference between science and technology? How might we articulate that?
What is the relationship of technology to society? What is the difference between technology and society?
Why do any of these questions matter? Because if we are to be functional citizens of a democracy (dysfunctional as our own is, in the US) we need to at least try to understand the answers.
One thing Rudi Volti taught me through this text was this - and it seems to be absolute:
While technology gives to us something with the one hand, it takes something away with the other.
Some people will experience benefit, others will experience detriment. Government policies, and social engineering forces (unwitting or not) drive the course of benefit vs detriment. Not to consider these propositions leads us to a wealth of things and impoverishment of our humanity.
June 23, 2009
I'm looking forward to winter so I can burn this book without feeling too bad.
October 23, 2019
In this book, Volti offers an ambitiously-broad survey of many of the sociological issues related to technological advance. However, its breadth of scope requires significant tradeoffs in depth of analysis that make it often interesting to read, but seldom very informative.
On the positive side, readers not particularly familiar with the history of technological development will find within these pages a variety of anecdotes, most of which are quite fascinating (though admittedly, many of the author's examples have become tired cliches to those of us who have spent some time studying technology or history before reading this book). However, when it comes to discussions of the contemporary issues related to technological advances, there's really not a lot of substance here. The author raises a number of interesting issues, but covers them so briefly that the reader is left with a feeling that the author has asked all the same questions that have already occurred to anyone who has recently read a newspaper but not made any substantial attempt to answer them. While it's refreshing to read a work by a sociologist who (mostly) keeps his own political views to himself, I can't help but wish the author had covered fewer topics but in much greater depth, offering point-by-point analyses of multiple perspectives on the issues.
Beyond the depth of analysis, the book is a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to the quality of scholarship. While the author seems to have well researched most of the topics, I did occasionally find issues where the superficiality of the analysis could easily lead to erroneous conclusions. Several pages, for instance, are devoted to the much-debated association between violent media and aggressive behavior, but the author does not appropriately qualify the data he presents with the psychological background necessary to correctly interpret those results (in particular, the differences (both qualitative and quantitative) between aggressive behavior as measured in the laboratory and violent behavior as observed in the "real world"). Of course anyone expects to find some points of disagreement with any author, but when the brevity of analysis of such an issue could so easily result in an incorrect interpretation of the state of the research, it does raise the question of the accuracy of some of the author's other statements.
At the end of the day, if you're interested in a book that provides a brief overview of some of the questions people are thinking about with regard to the interactions between technology and social institutions, this book will serve your purposes, but if you're looking for an in-depth analysis of the issues, you would probably be better served by another title.
On the positive side, readers not particularly familiar with the history of technological development will find within these pages a variety of anecdotes, most of which are quite fascinating (though admittedly, many of the author's examples have become tired cliches to those of us who have spent some time studying technology or history before reading this book). However, when it comes to discussions of the contemporary issues related to technological advances, there's really not a lot of substance here. The author raises a number of interesting issues, but covers them so briefly that the reader is left with a feeling that the author has asked all the same questions that have already occurred to anyone who has recently read a newspaper but not made any substantial attempt to answer them. While it's refreshing to read a work by a sociologist who (mostly) keeps his own political views to himself, I can't help but wish the author had covered fewer topics but in much greater depth, offering point-by-point analyses of multiple perspectives on the issues.
Beyond the depth of analysis, the book is a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to the quality of scholarship. While the author seems to have well researched most of the topics, I did occasionally find issues where the superficiality of the analysis could easily lead to erroneous conclusions. Several pages, for instance, are devoted to the much-debated association between violent media and aggressive behavior, but the author does not appropriately qualify the data he presents with the psychological background necessary to correctly interpret those results (in particular, the differences (both qualitative and quantitative) between aggressive behavior as measured in the laboratory and violent behavior as observed in the "real world"). Of course anyone expects to find some points of disagreement with any author, but when the brevity of analysis of such an issue could so easily result in an incorrect interpretation of the state of the research, it does raise the question of the accuracy of some of the author's other statements.
At the end of the day, if you're interested in a book that provides a brief overview of some of the questions people are thinking about with regard to the interactions between technology and social institutions, this book will serve your purposes, but if you're looking for an in-depth analysis of the issues, you would probably be better served by another title.
November 2, 2018
Long words simple topics
May 9, 2019
I was actually pleasantly surprised, as this was the guiding text for a course I took. While the text is dry, it covers a lot of interesting material and connects all of the concepts.
May 9, 2019
Read this for a college course and it amazes me how technology has evolved.
July 14, 2019
unjustified text made my eyes bleed
April 26, 2014
Assigned it to my technology and society course. Most students enjoyed the conversations created by Volti's ideas. Evaluations of this book from my class were positive. I do realize this is not a leisure read, I wouldn't have read it without my job.
December 17, 2008
read for a class. not bad if you are not a techie i guess. otherwise most of the information was kinda common sense. cant say i learned a bunch of stuff from it...
March 10, 2009
school requirement - an informative book.
Read
December 5, 2011Oh, it has a 2.4 rating on GoodReads?!? I'm looking forward to this!!!!
:(
:(
March 28, 2012
Have this for a course I`m taking, responsible for many headaches. Might like it if you`re a techie and have a huge interest in society and technology but overall best to be avoided.
September 28, 2013
Basic textbook intro to tech's effects on society.
March 22, 2015
حظ زیاد بردم.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews