conflicts over technology kga172 space, place and nature presented by associate professor elaine...
TRANSCRIPT
Conflicts over technology
KGA172 Space, Place and Nature
Presented by Associate Professor Elaine Stratford
Semester 2
LOOKING BACK, LOOKING FORWARD
Part 1
Revising Lecture 3.9
1. In 1690, Locke published his Essay Concerning Human Understanding, in which he argued that knowledge is based in experience externally derived from the senses. A corollary of that was that one’s environs [that which surrounds] were a huge storehouse for such experiences and could be used – mined for all they offered. Why and how might this position influence modern tourism?
2. Defend and exemplify the proposition that tourism affects the physical world, economic and social life – that is, space, place and nature – and does so at various scales.
3. Define tourism and ecotourism and provide at least three examples of how they differ.
4. What is meant by the terms place piracy and scenery mining? What conceptual and geopolitical work do these terms do? Are they helpful in understanding ecotourism? Auguste Rodin, A man thinking
Learning Objectives
Module 3 Lecture 10• be able to
– describe the salient characteristics of technophobia and technophilia
– name and describe technology’s cultural promises and challenges or conflicts arising from those promises
– appreciate how technology as an idea and technology practices together form a technology system that has significant influence on space, nature and place
KGA172• Know and be able to (a) employ basic
geographical terminology and concepts, (b) find, evaluate, analyse and reference appropriate literature, (c) contribute to debates about development and sustainability
• Comprehend and be able to explain spatial patterns, generate basic maps, field sketches and graphs, and communicate in written and graphical forms
• Apply key academic skills and (a) engage in critical thinking, discussion and listening, and in self-reflection and reflection upon the viewpoints of others and (b) research, plan and conduct fieldwork to collect data
• Analyse and interpret basic spatial, numerical and qualitative information
• Synthesize and integrate knowledge of social and Earth systems
Textbook Reading
Pacey, A. (1983) The Culture of Technology, Basil Blackwell, Oxford.Relph, E. (2007) Spirit of place and sense of place in virtual realities, Techné: Research in Philosophy and Technology, 10 (3) pp.17-25.Further reading: Davison, A. (2004) Sustainable technology: beyond fix or fixation. In White, R. (ed) Controversies in Environmental Sociology. Cambridge University Press, Melbourne, pp.132-49.
Critical reading1.What is the author’s purpose?2.What key questions or problems does the author raise?3.What information, data and evidence does the author present?4.What key concepts does the author use to organize this information, this evidence?5.What key conclusions is the author coming to? Are those conclusions justified? 6.What are the author’s primary assumptions?7.What viewpoints is the author writing from?8.What are the implications of the author’s reasoning?[from Foundation for Critical Thinking]
A man in a library
TECHNOLOGY REVEALED?Part 2
A significant question
Does technology rule us or do we rule technology?
Technophobia
voluntary simplicityLuddismRomanticism Wilderness
Technological determinism
Technology the master of the human servant
Technophilia
eco-efficiencygreen technologyecological modernisationnatural capitalismtechnical-fixes
Technological instrumentalism
Technology the servant of the human master
Technology is a means to humans ends
Green Promises
"Today, environmental technology offers a win-win opportunity for our nation and the world as a whole: economic growth through the development and diffusion of environmental technology will result in more jobs, and a clean environment will mean a higher standard of living for ourselves and the generations that follow.”
Office of the US President 1994
Defining technology
Thinking of technology as technology practice:
“the application of scientific and other knowledge to practical tasks by ordered systems that involve people and organizations,
living things and machines” (Pacey, 1983:6).
=
technological system
(Pacey 1983, p.6)
1
2
3
… technology is always and inevitably geographical.
EXAMPLES THE CAR AND THE INTERNET
Part 3
What are the organisational and cultural aspects of the motor vehicle technological system?
www.flickr.com !Bishido Code, 2008
