Estrangement, Vol. 16 Book

Headrick asks the question why countries that were the victims of imperialism (AFrica, India, etc.) dd not achieve a higher state of development if European powers were transferring technology to those places. His basic answer is that the transfer of those technologies was done in a context that only benefitted the European powers, not the native areas. Whether it be the structure and location of railroads, the systems and networks of botany and botanists, or the educational systems that taught natives how things worked by not why they worked -- technology transfers were always for the benefit of the colonizer, not the colonized. This explains why many of these areas were left bereft of technology and development after decolonization. It also emphasizes that technology was one of the main tools of empire during this period. This book is very well written and argues its case quite well. It pairs very well not only with Headrick's other work, "Tools of Empire," but could be read alongside Michael Adas' "Machines as the Measure of Men," as the themes are quite similar.