Technology Culture And Development

This book examines the impact of the Soviet model of development on technology and science in the USSR and its former satellites. The book surveys the history and current state of science and technology in the USSR and its former satellites, and looks at the economic environment for technological innovation. It also examines the impact of the energy shock in the transitional economies of the region, and the ecological devastation of the USSR and Eastern Europe. The central argument of the book is that the cultural and social factors and the legacy of the Soviet model will inevitably figure in the reconstruction of the East.

Although scholars have devoted much attention to the impact of technology on society, they have tended to slight the question of how technology is affected by social systems. The authors of this volume take precisely this approach in their examination of the Soviet model of development. The book surveys the history and current state of science and technology in the USSR and its former satellites. It then looks at the economic environment for technological innovation and examines the impact of the energy shock in the transitional economies of the region. Finally, it discusses the ecological devastation of the USSR and Eastern Europe, its connection with the Soviet model and the prospects for remediation. The central argument of the book is that the cultural and social factors and the legacy of the Soviet model will inevitable figure in the reconstruction of the East.