Resistance to New Technology

This book compares resistance to technology across time, nations and technologies, concentrating on nuclear power, information technology and biotechnology. The focus is on post-1945 Europe, with comparisons made with the United States, Japan and Australia. The main thesis of the book is that resistance is a constructive force in technological development, giving technology its particular shape in a particular context. While many people still believe in the positive contribution made by science and technology, many have become skeptical. The book takes the idea that modernity creates effects that undermine its own foundations, and explores various forms and effects of resistance throughout the postwar period. This presents a unique interdisciplinary study, and includes contributions from historians, sociologists, psychologists and political scientists.