The Tentacles of Progress: Technology Transfer in the Age of Imperialism, 1850-1940 - Softcover

Headrick, Daniel R.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0195051165 ISBN 13: 9780195051162

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1990

Synopsis

Daniel Headrick examines why the massive transfer of Western technology to European colonies did not spark an industrial revolution in those countries. Rather than spurring economic progress, he argues, the transfer of stock technology between 1850 and 1940 caused the traditional self-sufficient economies of the colonial regions to be stuck in a state of underdevelopment, a legacy which burdens these countries to this day.

About this title

Review:

`Headrick's wide reading of the secondary literatures is evident in his accounts of the global shipping industry and of Hong Kong's water supply and sanitation, in his reading of hydraulic imperialism in Egypt, in his discussion of technical education in West Africa and in his commentary on economic botany and the tropical plantations of Empire ... this is a very valuable book indeed. Some of the most important structures of the global formation between 1850-1940 are very clearly set before us and their interconnections rightly emphasized.' Journal of Historical Geography

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 0195051165
• ISBN 13: 9780195051162
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 420