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Beyond prometheanism: Modern technologies as strategies for redistributing time and space

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  • Alf Hornborg

Abstract

Technologies developed since the late eighteenth century differ from earlier forms of technology by being as dependent on world market prices of labour, land and other biophysical resources as on human inventiveness. Yet, whether their outlook is mainstream or heterodox, modern people tend to view technology simply as ingenuity applied to nature, while oblivious of the extent to which it is contingent on the asymmetric exchange of resources in global society. Although inextricably entwined in the real world, the phenomena studied by economics and engineering are kept conceptually separate. This is achieved by disregarding the materiality of world trade. Modern technologies are not just instruments for solving problems but social strategies for redistributing time and space in world society, displacing work and environmental loads to sectors of the world system where wages are lower and environmental legislation less rigorous. Technology should not remain extraneous to social theory. A sociometabolic reconceptualisation of technology is particularly essential for critics of global capitalism.

Suggested Citation

  • Alf Hornborg, 2024. "Beyond prometheanism: Modern technologies as strategies for redistributing time and space," Environmental Values, , vol. 33(1), pages 28-41, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envval:v:33:y:2024:i:1:p:28-41
    DOI: 10.1177/09632719231209744
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Dorninger, Christian & Hornborg, Alf & Abson, David J. & von Wehrden, Henrik & Schaffartzik, Anke & Giljum, Stefan & Engler, John-Oliver & Feller, Robert L. & Hubacek, Klaus & Wieland, Hanspeter, 2021. "Global patterns of ecologically unequal exchange: Implications for sustainability in the 21st century," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    2. repec:sae:envval:v:25:y:2016:i:1:p:7-28 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Chris Evans & Owen Jackson & Göran Rydén, 2002. "Baltic iron and the British iron industry in the eighteenth century," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 55(4), pages 642-665, November.
    4. Norman Dandy, 2021. "How Long will Business as Usual be Sustained?," Environmental Values, , vol. 30(2), pages 141-146, April.
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    1. Ejike Okonkwo, 2024. "The branding pyramidical tool kit for enhancing actors’ agency in regional energy transitions within the Nordic Battery Belt," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-11, December.

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