Lexington Books
Pages: 316
•
Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜
978-1-4985-2047-8 • Hardback • September 2017 • $136.00 • (£105.00)
978-1-4985-2048-5 • eBook • September 2017 • $129.00 • (£99.00)
Piyush Mathur is an independent scholar.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Preface
List of Figures
Chapter 1: Technology, Ecology, & Communication
Chapter 2: In Apprehending Technology, Bypass the Foucauldian Framework
Chapter 3: Science Defined in Terms of Object Versus Method of Study: The Problematics of the Two Approaches
Chapter 4: Diverse Objects, Diverse Subjects: An Inquest into a State of Pre- Fragmentation Termed Science
Chapter 5:The Argument Concerning the Christian-Religious Inception of Science
Chapter 6: Mystique & Domination: A Matter of Mutual Reinforcement
The Theological Substructure of the Dominant Notion of Science
Chapter 7: Some Terminological Revelations Through European History: The Invalidity of Science as a Theoretical Concept
Chapter 8: Science: A Basket Category
And why Science-Technology Differential Matters to Communication
Chapter 9: An Eco-Communicative Theory of Technology
Chapter 10: The Principle of Proximation: Proximate & Distant Technologies
Chapter 11: The Principle of Temporality: Newer, Older, Obsolete, & Antiquated Technologies
Chapter 12: The Principle of Concentration: Concentrative & Disseminative Technologies
Chapter 13: The Principle of Anthropocentrism: Meat Technologies; Technologies of Polity; Communication Technologies
Chapter 14: The Principle of Uncertainty: Uncertain Technologies
Chapter 15: The Unprincipled Case of the Technologies of Development
Chapter 16: Conclusion
Bibliography
About the Author
Mathur’s classifications can serve as the basis of further investigation into the relationship between mass communication, technologies, and ecology and stimulate the intellectual development of the field of eco-communication. Readers will do well by keeping some technologies of interest in mind as they follow the chronicles. On the whole, Technological Forms constitutes a substantial resource for communication scholars, philosophers of technology, those engaged in environmental studies and development studies as well as historians and philosophers of science.
— Information, Commuication & Society
"This book is not just a critique of contemporary communication. Mathur’s critique aims at laying the groundwork for an alternative theory of communication, one that insists experts and journalists alike move beyond technological fetishisation and toward a communicative approach that considers the potential ecological effects that accompany some, if not all, forms of technological “advancement”."
— Local Enviornment
Mathur’s two-sided approach – terminological criticism and building of heuristics – leaves the reader feeling less blind to the operations of industrial capitalism than before. Technological Formsis a book about reading, writing, and thinking. . . . Technological Forms. . . offer[s] robust analysis of intellectual domination.
— Postcolonial Studies
This book is brilliantly researched and opens a new chapter in a heated debate on science and technology. The author critically re-thinks some of the basic notions of our civilization, providing new answers to troubling environmental questions. Technological Forms and Ecological Communication: A Theoretical Heuristic is modern philosophy at its brightest.— Viacheslav Kudashov, Siberian Federal University
Technological Forms and Ecological Communication: A Theoretical Heuristic is a remarkable achievement. Mathur's critical explorations of how technology, ecology, and communication must be reappraised today from a comprehensively global perspective make this study essential reading for those engaged in communication, development, science and technology, or environmental studies.— Timothy W. Luke, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
With boundless intellect and compassion Piyush Mathur elucidates the centuries-long evolution of our contemporary concepts of science, technology, and communication. In so doing, he reveals their inherent vagueness and relativity, while presenting brave insights into how to address anew our planetary distress. A stunning contribution!— Chellis Glendinning, Independent scholar and psychologist