The Machine at Work (Paperback)

Keith Grint

ISBN 10: 0745609252 / ISBN 13: 9780745609256

Published by John Wiley and Sons Ltd, Oxford, 1997

About this Item

Paperback. This highly topical book is a concise and accessible account of the relationship between technology and work. Firstly, it reviews and critically assesses a variety of recent approaches to the social and cultural dimensions of technology. Secondly, it examines the implications of these new approaches for existing ideas about the nature of technology and work organization. At the core of much thinking about technology is the assumption that the technical character and capacity of artefacts is given. The enduring image of deus ex machina captures the idea that it is the essential capacity 'within' a technology which, in the end, accounts for the way we organize ourselves, our work and other life experiences. Recent work in the sociology of technology, by contrast, sets out relativist and constructivist accounts of technology, which begin to challenge this central assumption. The Machine at Work includes a reinterpretation of the Luddites; a review of the social processes of development in information technology; a reassessment of theories of the role of technology in work; and an analysis of the common limitations of some constructivist and feminist perspectives on technology. The book argues that only a commitment to a particular conception of constructivism enables the kind of radical rethinking about technology and work relations that is needed. This engaging and informative text will be of interest to students in a range of subject areas - from sociology, organizational theory and behaviour, to industrial relations, management and business studies. aeo A clearly written critical assessment of recent approaches to the technical, social and cultural dimensions of technology. aeo This book sheds new light on the implications of new theories for existing ideas about the nature of technology, especially the relation between technology and work. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780745609256

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Machine at Work (Paperback)
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons Ltd, Oxford
• Publication Date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0745609252
• ISBN 13: 9780745609256
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

This highly topical book is a concise and accessible account of the relationship between technology and work. Firstly, it reviews and critically assesses a variety of recent approaches to the social and cultural dimensions of technology. Secondly, it examines the implications of these new approaches for existing ideas about the nature of technology and work organization.

At the core of much thinking about technology is the assumption that the technical character and capacity of artefacts is given. The enduring image of deus ex machina captures the idea that it is the essential capacity 'within' a technology which, in the end, accounts for the way we organize ourselves, our work and other life experiences. Recent work in the sociology of technology, by contrast, sets out relativist and constructivist accounts of technology, which begin to challenge this central assumption.

The Machine at Work includes a reinterpretation of the Luddites; a review of the social processes of development in information technology; a reassessment of theories of the role of technology in work; and an analysis of the common limitations of some constructivist and feminist perspectives on technology. The book argues that only a commitment to a particular conception of constructivism enables the kind of radical rethinking about technology and work relations that is needed.

This engaging and informative text will be of interest to students in a range of subject areas - from sociology, organizational theory and behaviour, to industrial relations, management and business studies.

About the Author

Keith Grint is Lecturer in Management Studies and Fellow in Organization Behaviour at Templeton College, Oxford. Steve Woolgar is Director of CRICT and Professor of Sociology at Brunel, University of West London.