The Technological Society

This book was published in French in 1950, and then in English translation in 1960. The English translation had some updates.

This is a very peculiar combination of being quite dated and being almost timeless. Ellul is describing a transformation of society that has been underway since probably WW1 or so. Maybe more like 1860. The core notion is like Frederick Taylor's "One Best Way". The criterion for action is efficiency. What's lost is any depth, any recognition that efficiency is about moving quickly, without reflection on where one might or ought to be headed.

Ellul portrays our world as one where systematically measured and controlled processes build on each other and intertwine with each other, to the point where the individual show more person is reduced to some kind of robot. It's quite remarkable to read a book like this that is 60 or 70 years old, but as fresh as the morning dew. What he describes so thoroughly is surely the world we live in.

The book is certainly dated. For example, computers barely existed then. And in 1950 Stalin was still alive. Ellul treats Soviet Communism as a full player in the dialog of technical living.

Ellul pretty much says that our technological society has its own dynamism that is really beyond any human control. There is surely no cabal at the nucleus, steering events along the technological track. Maybe 150 years ago some steering was possible, but by now the train has its own momentum.

Another aspect of the datedness of the book is that there is very little discussion of ecological limits. Our technological train certainly looks to be headed over a cliff. That's not exactly steering, but it's a shift in dynamics all the same. Ellul doesn't really spend time on futurology. His book is about what was happening at the time. For the most part, what was happening then is happening just so much more nowadays. Actually his notion that the train cannot be steered, that helps explain why the whole climate change business is such a mess. People complain about the huge corporations that pump petroleum out of the ground, but go on pumping the refined products into their vehicles. This is the pervasive web of technology that Ellul examines in this book.

A nice little tidbit - in Joanna Macy's memoir Widening Circles, she mentions that she studied with Ellul when she was a grad student in the 1950s. show less

Could've made the same point in 40-80 pages and with that getting your message across and not annoying your readers. With the premise the author sets, I am not sure all examples work as valid arguments, and many sound as if they're coming from a ludite.

This is a very interesting book, and one not well know to many outside France. Ellul is one of the few philosophers who devoted much of his life to the understanding of technology as a stand-alone phenomenon. With great care, the author takes you through a detailed explanation of technology's manifestation, and how it goes on to transform the world we live in. There are different thoughts on how technology can be controlled, but in the end, Ellul feels there is no stopping it. We must simply learn to live with this thing that is both part of our human definition, and a transformative force unto itself.The writing style is fairly good, having been translated with care. However, one can not help but feel some level of awkwardness which show more hints to the original French manuscript. I would also advise that this book be read several times. One reading can only serve to introduce readers to the basic concepts and multitude of supporting authors that Ellul uses to both compare and contrast his ideas against. show less

Interesting as an early analysis of technology and society, and particularly for its (now disputed) claims about technological determinism.

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