The Palgrave Handbook of the Anthropology of Technology

This Handbook provides an overview of the diverse field of anthropological studies of technology, featuring 39 original chapters that explore human-technology interfaces, social organization, practices, and belief systems in different parts of the world. It emphasizes the importance of knowledge practices, communities, ethics, and infrastructures in understanding technology's impact on society.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 808 pages
Publication date: 25 March 2023
Publisher: Springer Verlag, Singapore

This comprehensive Handbook provides a thorough exploration of the dynamic and multifaceted realm of anthropological studies of technology. Comprising 39 original chapters, each offering a state-of-the-art review of current research while also invigorating the field through ethnographic analysis of human-technology interfaces, social organization, technological practices, and systems of belief and meaning across diverse global contexts.

The Handbook is structured around key themes that define the contemporary landscape of anthropological studies of technology. These include the diverse knowledge practices that technologies entail and rely upon, the communities, collectives, and categories that form around technologies, anthropology's role in shaping debates on ethics, values, and morality in relation to technology, and infrastructures that reveal the interconnectedness of all technologies within broader political economies and socio-historical processes that shape and often perpetuate inequality and discrimination while also fostering diversity.

All chapters in this Handbook are committed to capturing the human experiences, embodiments, practices, and materialities that shape the daily lives of individuals and institutions involved in the development, manufacturing, deployment, and/or use of specific technologies. Chapters 11 and 31 are made available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via the link.springer.com.

This Handbook serves as a valuable resource for scholars, researchers, and students interested in advancing their understanding of the complex relationships between technology, society, and human experiences. By offering a comprehensive and interdisciplinary perspective, it contributes to the ongoing dialogue and debate surrounding the role of technology in shaping our world and the ways in which we can navigate its implications ethically and responsibly.

Weight: 1252g
Dimension: 235 x 155 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9789811670862
Edition number: 1st ed. 2022