Niklas Luhmann: Ecological Communication (1986–) [DE, EN]
Filed under book | Tags: · anthropology, ecology, environment, law, nature, philosophy, politics, science, social science, society, sociology, systems theory
“This work by Niklas Luhmann further develops the theories of the author by offering a challenging analysis of the relationship between society and the environment.
Luhmann extends the concept of ‘ecology’ to refer to any analysis that looks at connections between social systems and the surrounding environment. He traces the development of the notion of ‘environment’ from the medieval idea—which encompasses both human and natural systems—to our modern definition, which separates social systems from the external environment.
In Luhmann’s thought, human beings form part of the environment, while social systems consist only of communications. Utilizing this distinctive theoretical perspective, Luhmann presents a comprehensive catalog of society’s reactions to environmental problems. He investigates the spheres of the economy, law, science, politics, religion, and education to show how these areas relate to environmental issues.”
Publisher Westdeutsches Verlag, Opladen, 1986
4th edition published by VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften/GWV Fachverlage GmbH, Wiesbaden, 2004
ISBN 3531517759
275 pages
English edition
Translated by John Bednarz, Jr.
Publisher University of Chicago Press, 1989
ISBN 0226496511, 9780226496511
187 pages
Ökologische Kommunikation. Kann die moderne Gesellschaft sich auf ökologische Gefährdungen einstellen? (German, 4th ed., 1986/2004, updated on 2012-7-17)
Ecological Communication (English, 1989, no OCR, updated on 2012-7-17)
Langdon Winner: The Whale and the Reactor: A Search for Limits in an Age of High Technology (1986)
Filed under book | Tags: · critique of technology, deep ecology, ecology, environment, genetics, history of technology, philosophy of technology, technē, technology
“This collection of ten essays explores the social, political, and philosophical ramifications of the information technologies. While Winner looks at computer networking, nuclear reactors, genetic engineering, the so-called appropriate-technology movement and a variety of other specific issues, his main focus is on the way we think about technology.”
Publisher University of Chicago Press
ISBN 0226902110, 9780226902111
xiv+200 pages
Reviews: Craig Calhoun (Science, 1986), David Dickson (New York Times, 1986), James R. Temples (American Political Science Review, 1987), Stanley R. Carpenter (J Business Ethics, 1987), Slawomir Magala (Organization Studies, 1989), Scott London (1995), Heather Wiltse (2008).
PDF (updated on 2012-7-17)
Comment (0)Andrew Feenberg: Between Reason and Experience: Essays in Technology and Modernity (2010)
Filed under book | Tags: · critical theory, critique of technology, dystopia, environment, history of technology, internet, modernity, philosophy of technology, technology
“The technologies, markets, and administrations of today’s knowledge society are in crisis. We face recurring disasters in every domain: climate change, energy shortages, economic meltdown. The system is broken, despite everything the technocrats claim to know about science, technology, and economics. These problems are exacerbated by the fact that today powerful technologies have unforeseen effects that disrupt everyday life; the new masters of technology are not restrained by the lessons of experience, and accelerate change to the point where society is in constant turmoil. In Between Reason and Experience, leading philosopher of technology Andrew Feenberg makes a case for the interdependence of reason—scientific knowledge, technical rationality—and experience.
Feenberg examines different aspects of the tangled relationship between technology and society from the perspective of critical theory of technology, an approach he has pioneered over the past twenty years. Feenberg points to two examples of democratic interventions into technology: the Internet (in which user initiative has influenced design) and the environmental movement (in which science coordinates with protest and policy). He examines methodological applications of critical theory of technology to the case of the French Minitel computing network and to the relationship between national culture and technology in Japan. Finally, Feenberg considers the philosophies of technology of Heidegger, Habermas, Latour, and Marcuse. The gradual extension of democracy into the technical sphere, Feenberg argues, is one of the great political transformations of our time.”
Foreword by Brian Wynne
Afterword by Michel Callon
Publisher MIT Press, 2010
Inside Technology series
ISBN 0262514257, 9780262514255
248 pages
PDF, PDF (updated on 2015-12-22)
Comments (2)