Mastering the Machine: Poverty, Aid and Technology - Softcover

Smillie, Ian

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1853391573 ISBN 13: 9781853391576

Publisher: ITDG Publishing, 1991

Synopsis

Mastering the Machine attempts to answer the question `Is small still beautiful?' drawing on case studies and previously unpublished material from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. It draws on the lessons of history and three `development decades' to suggest how a more holistic approach to technology and its transfer can lead to genuine poverty reduction. Mastering the Machine is about a hybrid era, one caught somewhere between bronze and computers, between sail and jet engines; one in which quality has become confused with quantity, and means with ends. For the South - the 'Third World' - it is a time of immense technological opportunity and optimism. It is also a period of unimaginable poverty and hopelessness. It is a time of ferment, change and technological growth. And it is unlike any other period in history, for today, in addition to artisans and artists, farmers, machinists and dreamers, the direction of technology is influenced and fashioned by bureaucrats, economists, faraway corporate planners, aid agencies and charities. Never before in history have so many non-technical people exerted so much influence on the advancement, retardation and movement of technology. This book is about the interaction between people, and between poverty, aid and technology in the Third World.

About this title

Synopsis

"Mastering the Machine" attempts to answer the question "Is small still beautiful?", drawing on case studies and previously unpublished material from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. The book is about poverty, its alleviation and reduction - and the critical importance of technology in the process. Ian Smillie demonstrates that the world has learned an incredible amount about development since the publication of "Small is Beautiful" and "The Brandt Report" but that far too little has been done with that knowledge. "Mastering the Machine" examines an aid establishment hooked on hardware, and analyzes what lies behind the failures and successes of the appropriate technology movement. It reviews the technology factor in Third World development over the past 30 years and discusses what has been learned about technology, particularly appropriate technology, in the reduction of poverty during that time.

It draws from the lessons of history and three "development decades", to suggest how multilateral agencies, bilaterals, NGOs (North and South), the private sector and Third World governments - can, through a more holistic approach to technology and its transfer, have a more effective impact on genuine poverty reduction. "Mastering the Machine" is a book that draws together some of the most important development lessons of the past 3 decades.

Edition details

• Publisher: ITDG Publishing
• Publication date: 1991
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1853391573
• ISBN 13: 9781853391576
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 268