Mastering the Machine Revisited: Poverty, Aid and Technology / Edition 1

by Ian Smillie

Overview

The 50-year struggle to harness technology in the fight against global poverty- and why is it taking so long? Mastering the Machine Revisited is about the connection between poverty, aid and technology. It is about the search driven today by greater extreme poverty than has ever been known, and by a realization that the technologies applied to the problem have severe limitations. In this substantially revised edition, the author revisits the development problems of the 1980's to see what progress has been made. The book also revisits promising innovations, projects and people described in the first edition, discovering what lasted, what failed and why. It considers the developmental impact of new and accelerating phenomena: globalization, the explosion of information and communication technologies, increasingly complex emergencies, weaker governments, bigger companies and escalating debt. For the South, this is a time of immense technological opportunity and optimism. It is also a period of unimaginable poverty and hopelessness. And it is unlike any other period in history, for today, in addition to artisans and artists, farmers, machinists and dreamers, the direction of technology is influenced by bureaucrats, economists, faraway corporate planners, aid agencies and charities. Never before have so many non-technical people exerted so much influence on the advancement, retardation and direction of technology. Mastering the Machine Revisited is about the interaction between these people, and between poverty, aid and technology.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781853395079
Publisher:	Practical Action Publishing
Publication date:	12/28/2000
Edition description:	Revised
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Ian Smillie is an Ottawa-based development consultant and writer. He has lived and worked widely in Africa and Asia, and his knowledge of Bangladesh spans more than three decades. Author of several books on international development, he was a founder of the Canadian development organization, Inter Pares, and was Executive Director of CUSO. In addition to his other work, he is associated with the Feinstein International Center at Tufts University and serves as Research Coordinator on Partnership Africa Canada's 'Diamonds and Human Security Project'. He is a participant in the intergovernmental 'Kimberley Process,' which has developed a global certification system for rough diamonds.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Refreshingly new look at classic ideas of technology and poverty in our era of globalization … Must reading for anyone interested in understanding and solving the protests in Seattle, Washington DC and increasingly elsewhere. Dr Lincoln Chen, The Rockefeller Foundation Praise for the first edition: A direct no nonsense investigation of poverty… a rare book. New England Review of Books Read Smillie if you want something constructive. The Economist

Editorial Reviews

"Read Smillie if you want something constructive."

"A rare book. A direct, no-nonsense investigation of poverty."

From the Publisher

"A rare book. A direct, no-nonsense investigation of poverty."

New England Review of Books

"Read Smillie if you want something constructive."

The Economist