Time Schedule:
David Watkins
POL S 410
Seattle Campus
Relationships between politics, technological change, and development of multinational corporations. Considers whether the relations between political and economic systems of industrial societies have been fundamentally altered by the increased importance and interdependence of government, experts, and new technological possibilities for intervention in social life.
Class description
This is an advanced course on the interplay between technology, philosophy and politics. This course will be conducted seminar-style, with students taking a lead in course discussion. We will read texts that engage longstanding questions about the relationship between technology, philosophy and politics from many different academic approaches--social science, ethnography, anthropology, philosophy, and literature. Most of the readings will be organized around the following several themes: 1) Critical-theoretical approaches to technology, 2) Technology, Labor and History, 3) Information Technologies and changing global political structures, 4) The impact of technology on human bodies and human subjects. Questions we will engage include--What role does technology play in political and social change? Does technology change society, or does society, or both? How? Is there a relationship between technology and democracy? Can technology threaten democracy? Enhance it? How? Does technological progress equal human progress? What does it mean to say humans have become cyborgs? Does this require political changes? What are the political implications of the internet and other changes in information technology? What is the relationship between Gender and technology?
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
Recommended preparation
Texts: Teich, Technology and the Future; Rosenau and Singh, Information Technologies and Global Politics; Noble, Progress without People, Kaufman-Osborn, Creatures of Prometheus; Gray, Cyborg Citizen; Piercy, He She It; Winner, The Whale and the Reactor. In addition to these books, we will also read several classic essays on technology studies available through on-line reserve, including Heidegger, "The Question Concerning Technology," Haraway, "A Manifesto for Cyborgs," and Mumford, "Democratic and Authoritarian Technics," and others.
Class assignments and grading
Assignments: The assignment for this course is to carefully read all the assigned readings, and come to class well prepared to discuss them. All graded assignments will revolve around this goal: brief response papers (30%) 1-2 class sessions where you take responsibility for leading discussion (10%), a journal of your reflections on the readings (20%), and your contributions to class discussion throughout the quarter (20%). The final 20% of the grade will be a take-home final exam.
Grades: Response paper 30 % Class Discussion 30 % Readings 20 % Final 20 % Total: 100 %
