PSC 346 - Technologies in Society: Power, Politics and Economy across Industrial Revolutions

Course Units: 1.0

(Not Offered this Academic Year) With the advent of the internet, robotics, Big Data, artificial intelligence and machine learning, we are already well into a Third (some say ‘Fourth’) Industrial Revolution. If history is any guide, this industrial revolution is transforming society, politics and culture in ways both overt and subtle. Further, as it diffuses, it will not be replicated identically across time and space. This course compares the first, second and third industrial revolutions - selectively focusing on the advent of factories/machines, mass production and information technologies, respectively. For each revolution, the course asks three questions 1) how value is created, 2) who controls and benefits from the new modes of production and consumption, and 3) how it transforms and is transformed by its social and political contexts. Second, it explores variation across different national political economies, most prominently in the advanced countries of England, the US, Europe and Japan, with selective comparisons to other developing countries, including China today. Prerequisite(s): PSC 111 or PSC 112 or sophomore standing. CC: SOCS