SOCA02H3 : Ch.22 -Technology-Notes
Document Summary
Technology was widely defined as the application of scientific principles to the improvement of human life. The most infamous technological disasters of the 1970s and 1980s include the following: an outbreak of legionnaires" disease in a philadelphia hotel in 1976 killed 34 people. This led to the immediate shutdown of an elementary school and the evacuation of residents from their homes. German sociologist ulrich beck also coined a term that stuck when he said we live in a risk society. A risk society is a society in which technology distributes danger among all categories of the population. Some categories, however, are more exposed to technological danger than others are. Moreover, in a risk society, danger does not result from technological accidents alone. In addition, increased risk is due to mounting environmental threats. Environmental threats are more widespread, chronic, and ambiguous than technological accidents. Neil postman (1992) refers to the united states as a technopoly .
