Technology And The Canadian Mind

Technology is and has always been the subject of critical debate. This wide-ranging, engaging book examines the ideas of Anglo Canadian theorists who saw technology as a new imperative that would either enhance or threaten the moral imperative. From the mid-nineteenth century onward, advocates argued that technology, as a moral force, would strengthen the ties that bound Canada to Britain and Western civilization, while opponents saw technology as a source of American power that threatened Canadian independence. The Technological Imperative in Canada offers new insights into the ideas of influential Canadian theorists of technology such as Harold Innis and Marshall McLuhan and introduces readers to the ideas and perceptions of lesser-known but key figures such as Sandford Fleming, Stephen Leacock, and E. J. Pratt. This seminal book revises the entrenched notion that Anglo Canadian thought has been dominated by the moral imperative. It will appeal to anyone who wants a Canadian perspective on a critical subject.

The computer-assisted tools, methodologies and structures through which those in the arts and humanities pursue their disciplines - the humanities 'mind technologies' - have come increasingly to the forefront in recent years. Arising in part from recent meetings between the Consortium for Computing in the Humanities (COCH/COSH) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), the volume is the first to document the internationally significant work of the Canadian academic community in this area. Addressing issues of funding, research and innovation, these articles foc.

""Technology and Society" is a thoroughly researched, insightful sociological analysis of complex issues in the technology / society relationship." - David Long, The King's University College

The Canadian discourse - Technological dependency: George Grant as the Nietzsche of the New World - Technological humanism : the processed World of Marshall McLuhan - Technological realism : Harold Innis' empire of communications.

A study of technology and nationalism and how they have shaped twenty-first century Canada.

Science and technology have shaped not only economic empires and industrial landscapes, but also the identities, anxieties, and understandings of people living in modern times. Made Modern draws together leading scholars from a wide range of fields who write on topics ranging from exploration and infrastructure to the occult sciences and communications. The contributors use histories of science and technology to enrich our understanding of Canadian history and of Canada’s place in a transnational modern world. The first major collection of its kind in thirty years, this book explores the place of science and technology in shaping Canadians’ experience of themselves and their place in the modern world.

This edited work offers an interdisciplinary exploration of the meanings, uses, and contradictions of nationalism, critical to contemporary understandings of Canada and Canadians.