Technology and Social Agency

Marcia-Anne Dobres received her Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley and is currently teaching at the University of South Carolina. Her research focuses on Palaeolithic and contemporary hunter-gatherers, technology, social agency, and gender, as well as prehistoric art and symbolism. She has ongoing research projects in France and South Africa. She is senior editor of The Social Dynamics of Technology: Practice, Politics, and World Views (1999) and Agency in Archaeology (ed. with Robb, 2000).

List of Figures. Preface.

Acknowledgments.

Introduction.

1. Of Black Boxes and Matters Material: The State of Things.

2. Deconstructing the Black Box: Some Philosophical and Historical Reflections on the Logos Tekhne.

3. Prying Open the Black Box: Philosophical Insights on Technology and Being.

4. A Synoptic Approach to Technology: Conceptual Contours of a Practice Framework.

5. Social Agency and Practice: The Heart and Soul of Technology.

6. Engendering the Chaine Operatoire: Methodological Issues.

7. A Future for Technology's Pasts.

Notes.

References.

Index.