Description
Book Synopsisaeo A clearly written critical assessment of recent approaches to the technical, social and cultural dimensions of technology. aeo This book sheds new light on the implications of new theories for existing ideas about the nature of technology, especially the relation between technology and work.
Trade Review"A challenging analysis of the relations between work and technology from an anti-essentialist perspective. Key issues concerning the production and consumption of technology are debated in a lucid and scholarly manner. Highly recommended."
Professor John Hassard, Keele University "The application of contemporary sociological models of technological change in the workplace is still in its infancy. The Machine at Work plays a crucial role in bridging this gap. It is one of the few recent publications helping the study of technological change at work to come of age." Professor Richard Badham, University of Wollongong
"This book is well written and accessible. Besides being of interest to scholars, especially students of sociology, organisational theory, innovation and management studies, The Machine at Work should provide stimulating reading for those with a more general interest in contemporary analyses of technology." The Times Higher Education Supplement
"A fine introductory text." Information Technology and People
"[A] fascinating book ... [It] raise[s] very real methodological questions and, what is more to the point, attempts to provide answers to them." British Journal of Sociology
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements.
Introduction: Deus ex Machina. .
1. Theories of Technology.
2. The Luddites: Diablo Ex Machina. .
3. Configuring the User: Inventing New Technologies.
4. Some Failures of Nerve in Constructivist and Feminist Analyses of Technology.
5. Technology and Work Organizations.
6. What's Social about Being Shot?.
Notes.
References.
Index.
