The Machine in Me: An Anthropologist Sits Among Computer Engineers

by Gary Lee Downey

Overview

Gary Lee Downey investigates the body/machine interface in his remarkable ethnography of computer engineers. Drawing on interviews, observations and personal interaction with engineers, he documents the everyday power of technology's dominant image in our society, a force widely regarded as monolithically progressive. The Machine in Me will lead the reader to understand how deeply connected we are to The Machine and how beneficial it would be for us to really understand ourselves and machines as partially configured of the other--we as part machine, machines as part human. In this way, we can begin to see both the power and limitations of technology.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781136679209
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	03/05/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Gary Lee Downey is Director of the Center for Science and Technology Studies at Virginia Tech.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments 1 Images Count 2 We Put You in Control: The Trade Show 3 Does Productivity Fit? 4 Seducing Money 5 Adapting a Nation around Automation 6 Beyond Control and Submission 7 Locating Me Inside It: Coding 8 Locating It Inside Me: Confusion 9 The Making of Experts 10 On the Replacement of Humans with Machines: A Different Humanism Notes References

Editorial Reviews

"[T]his book makes an important contribution to the larger project of theorizing the relationship between technology and society. Downey prods readers to rethink the cultural boundary between technology and humanity and focuses much-needed attention on the dynamics of technology-in-use." — Technology and Culture
"[A]musing and insightful observations about industry trade shows, sharp criticism of the national rhetoric of productivity in the United States in the 1980s." — Technology and Culture

From the Publisher