Technological Change and the Transformation of America

This collection of original essays examines modern technology in light of American intellectual and social history.Goldberg and Strain have arranged the essays in four sections, each treating a dimension of American culture: consciousness, work, politics, and community. The book is distinguished not only by the breadth of its perspective but also by the quality of its contributors, notably Christopher Lasch, Leo Marx, John Kasson, Albert Borgmann, Irving Bluestone, and Senator Charles McC. Mathias.The essays address a series of hard choices: mass production or flexible specialization, computer surveillance as the protection or violation of human rights, economic mobility or cohesive community, progress as technological expansion or as the fulfillment of political ideals. This volume shows how the choices made in the development of technology, both historically and today, spring from cultural traditions and beliefs."