History of Science and Technology Colloquium

Author:
Jennifer Karns Alexander, Program in History of Science and Technology, University of Minnesota

Commentators:
Naomi Scheman, Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies & Philosophy, University of Minnesota
Andrew Feenberg, Philosophy of Technology, Simon Fraser University
David Valentine, Anthropology, University of Minnesota

ABSTRACT: The Mantra of Efficiency analyzes the historical development of a belief that has become orthodox in modern technological societies: that all things should act efficiently. Like all orthodoxies it offers comfort and guidance, but it also has the power to wound those who cannot follow its dogmas or who resist its rituals of conformity. Efficiency is technological, because it has primarily to do with making things work, and it is particularly apparent in the current emphasis on quantifiable productivity and associated fears of waste. Historical study offers a tool for uncovering and critically examining the technological orthodoxies that increasingly dominate life in industrial and post-industrial societies. The Mantra of Efficiency contains a series of historical case studies, in American, German, British, and French history, which range from early industrial uses of water power to efficiency in ergonomics, neo-classical economics, and debates over slave labor. The Mantra of Efficiency argues that beneath efficiency's seemingly endless variety lies a common theme: the pursuit of mastery through techniques of surveillance, discipline, and control.

Cosponsored by the Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science.