Technology and World Politics by McCarthy, Daniel R.;

Short description:

Technology and World Politics will introduce students to different approaches to technology in global politics through a survey of traditional and emerging theoretical approaches to the subject.

Long description:

This edited volume provides a convenient entry point to the cutting-edge field of the international politics of technology, in an interesting and informative manner. Technology and World Politics introduces its readers to different approaches to technology in global politics through a survey of emerging fusions of Science and Technology Studies and International Relations. The theoretical approaches to the subject include the Social Construction of Technology, Actor-Network Theory, the Critical Theory of Technology, and New Materialist and Posthumanist approaches.

Considering how such theoretical approaches can be used to analyse concrete political issues such as the politics of nuclear weapons, Internet governance, shipping containers, the revolution in military affairs, space technologies, and the geopolitics of the Anthropocene, the volume stresses the socially constructed and inherently political nature of technological objects.

Providing the theoretical background to approach the politics of technology in a sophisticated manner alongside a glossary and guide to further reading for newcomers, this volume is a vital resource for both students and scholars focusing on politics and international relations.

‘This is a fascinating book. It really covers the state of the art in IR research that is at the intersection with work in other fields that consider the intersections of science, technology, and society. The introductory chapters on different approaches to technology studies will be useful to anyone in IR who is unfamiliar with the broader field and most of the chapters on specific technological issues are outstanding.’ - Professor Craig N. Murphy, Wellesley College, USA

'This superb volume strikes new ground in its interdisciplinary approach to technology and global politics. It advances productive intellectual engagements with the sociotechnical systems that characterise our world. Essential reading for anyone interested in the complexities of technology, society and international relations in the 21st century.' - Tim Stevens, Department of War Studies, King's College London, UK

Table of Contents:

1 Introduction: Technology and World Politics

[Daniel R. McCarthy]

2 The Social Construction of Technology: How Objects Acquire Meaning in International Society

[Mary Manjikian]

3 Actor Network Theory: Objects and Actants, Networks and Narratives

[Christian Bueger and Jan Stockbruegger]

4 Critical Theory of Technology: Design, Domination and Democracy

[Daniel R. McCarthy]

5 New Materialisms and International Relations: Bodies, Brains and Complex Causality

[Nick Srnicek]

6 Nuclear Technoaesthetics: Sensory Politics from Trinity to the Virtual Bomb in Los Alamos

[Joseph P. Masco]

7 The Global Politics of Internet Governance: A case study in closure and technological design

[Monroe Price]

8 The Infrastructure of the Global Economy: The Shipping Container as a Political Artefact

[Alejandro Colas]

9 A Revolution in Military Affairs? Changing Technologies and Changing Practices of Warfare

[Antoine Bousquet]

10 Extra-Terrestrial Politics: The Politics of Technology in Space

[Columba Peoples]

11 The Geopolitics of Extinction: From the Anthropocene to the Eurocene

[Jairus Victor Grove]

12 Conclusion: Technology and International Relations Theory: The End of the beginning

Daniel R. McCarthy

Glossary

Further Reading