Technology and the Making of the Netherlands – The Age of Contested Modernization, 1890–1970 - Hardcover

Schot, Johan; Lintsen, Harry; Rip, Arie; Vleuten, Erik Van Der; Bogaard, Adrienne Van De

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0262013622 ISBN 13: 9780262013628

Publisher: MIT Press, 2010

Synopsis

An account of the trajectory of modernization through technology in the Netherlands. This study offers both an account of twentieth-century technology in the Netherlands and a view of Dutch history through the lens of technology. It describes the trajectory of modernization through technology in certain characteristically Dutch contexts-including the omnipresence of water, the pervasiveness of urbanization coupled with a high-tech agricultural sector, and the legacy of colonialism-but at the same time makes it clear that Dutch struggles over technology choices, infrastructure development, mass production, and the role of government are comparable to the experience of any Western industrialized country. The book, which synthesizes findings originally presented in a series of seven volumes published in the Netherlands, uses the idea of contested modernization as an overarching concept through which to understand Dutch technological history. The modernizers of Dutch society-including engineers, management consultants, architects, and others-did not always agree on how to modernize; moreover, the unruliness of specific practices often derailed or redirected implementation. Tensions between top-down and bottom-up modernization, and between scale-enlargement and more flexible arrangements of mutual coordination and cooperation shaped Dutch history. The chapters examine such topics as attempts to create an industrial nation, materially connected through infrastructure; the conflicts that came with the arrival of mass production and the emergence of a consumer society; and land-use planning in a low-lying country.

About this title

Product Description:

This study offers both an account of twentieth-century technology in the Netherlands and a view of Dutch history through the lens of technology. It describes the trajectory of modernization through technology in certain characteristically Dutch contexts--including the omnipresence of water, the pervasiveness of urbanization coupled with a high-tech agricultural sector, and the legacy of colonialism--but at the same time makes it clear that Dutch struggles over technology choices, infrastructure development, mass production, and the role of government are comparable to the experience of any Western industrialized country. The book, which synthesizes findings originally presented in a series of seven volumes published in the Netherlands, uses the idea of contested modernization as an overarching concept through which to understand Dutch technological history. The modernizers of Dutch society--including engineers, management consultants, architects, and others--did not always agree on how to modernize; moreover, the unruliness of specific practices often derailed or redirected implementation.Tensions between top-down and bottom-up modernization, and between scale-enlargement and more flexible arrangements of mutual coordination and cooperation shaped Dutch history. The chapters examine such topics as attempts to create an industrial nation, materially connected through infrastructure; the conflicts that came with the arrival of mass production and the emergence of a consumer society; and land-use planning in a low-lying country.

Review:

"In this thoughtful and synthetic work, contested modernization yields a fresh interpretation of twentieth-century Dutch history. Changes in technology, consumption, war, the nation state, colonialism--even the efforts of activist Dutch housewives--are clearly in view. This is an account alive to the nuances of the distinctive Dutch experience with modernity."--Thomas J. Misa, Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota, coeditor of "Urban Machinery"

"This is a splendid book, providing a fascinating analysis of the history of modern Netherlands through the lens of technology. Filled with carefully chosen and beautifully illustrated images, "Technology and the Making of the Netherlands" is a true pleasure to read. Anyone interested in technology and history will find something to learn within these pages."--Arne Kaijser, Professor of History of Technology, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, and President of the Society for History of Technology (2009-2010)

"This is a timely translation of the crowning final volume of a monumentally rich, well-researched, and beautifully illustrated and edited series. The Dutch-language volume showed that no historian of technology or economic historian of the twentieth century can ignore the rich and subtle experience of modern technological progress in the Netherlands, illuminated here in English and from many different points of view. The economic, social, political, and cultural ramifications of rapid technological progress in a small, open, and rich country are explored in a clear yet scholarly fashion. A wonderful book."--Joel Mokyr, Professor of Economics and History, Northwestern University author of "The Gifts of Athena" and "The Enlightened Economy"

About this edition

• Publisher: MIT Press
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0262013622
• ISBN 13: 9780262013628
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 640