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Cover image of Fish Sticks, Sports Bras, and Aluminum Cans
Cover image of Fish Sticks, Sports Bras, and Aluminum Cans
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Fish Sticks, Sports Bras, and Aluminum Cans

The Politics of Everyday Technologies

Paul R. Josephson

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What do bananas, rocket ships, bicycles, and French fries have in common?

Who would have guessed that the first sports bra was made out of two jockstraps sewn together or that it succeeded because of federal anti-discrimination laws? What do simple decisions about where to build a road or whether to buy into the carbon economy have to do with Hurricane Katrina or the Fukushima nuclear disaster? How did massive flood control projects on the Mississippi River and New Deal dams on the Columbia River lead to the ubiquity of high fructose corn syrup? And what explains the creation—and continued...

What do bananas, rocket ships, bicycles, and French fries have in common?

Who would have guessed that the first sports bra was made out of two jockstraps sewn together or that it succeeded because of federal anti-discrimination laws? What do simple decisions about where to build a road or whether to buy into the carbon economy have to do with Hurricane Katrina or the Fukushima nuclear disaster? How did massive flood control projects on the Mississippi River and New Deal dams on the Columbia River lead to the ubiquity of high fructose corn syrup? And what explains the creation—and continued popularity—of the humble fish stick?

In Fish Sticks, Sports Bras, and Aluminum Cans, historian Paul R. Josephson explores the surprising origins, political contexts, and social meanings of ordinary objects. Drawing on archival materials, technical journals, interviews, and field research, this engaging collection of essays reveals the forces that shape (and are shaped by) everyday objects.

Ultimately, Josephson suggests that the most familiar and comfortable objects—sugar and aluminum, for example, which are inextricably tied together by their linked history of slavery and colonialism—may have the more astounding and troubling origins. Students of consumer studies and the history of technology, as well as scholars and general readers, will be captivated by Josephson’s insights into the complex relationship between society and technology.

Reviews

Reviews

Josephson’s conclusions are guaranteed to make you think of the modern world and its interconnectedness in a different light. ‘Sometimes,’ he writes ‘you should just say, no, refuse that new-fangled fish stick or aluminum soda can or smart phone or online source.’

... At its best is original and instructive and compresses a great deal of technical material into a brief and readable form.

... every chapter of this book offers surprising insights and is a pleasure to read – not only for academic readers or lecturers who might find the essays very suitable to discuss with students. The book will also be appreciated by a broader audience interested in learning more about the complex technological systems that are bound up in the artefacts surrounding us.

Josephson draws readers into the complexities and fascinations of the study of technological history. A lively and provocative book.

About

Book Details

Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
6
x
9
Pages
224
ISBN
9781421417837
Illustration Description
8 b&w photos
Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. The Ocean's Hot Dog
2. The Sports Bra
3. Sugar, Bananas, and Aluminum Cans
4. Mass-Produced Nutrition
5. Technology and (Natural) Disasters
6. Big Artifacts
Conclusion
Notes
Sugg

Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. The Ocean's Hot Dog
2. The Sports Bra
3. Sugar, Bananas, and Aluminum Cans
4. Mass-Produced Nutrition
5. Technology and (Natural) Disasters
6. Big Artifacts
Conclusion
Notes
Suggested Further Reading
Index

Author Bio
Paul R. Josephson
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Paul R. Josephson

Paul R. Josephson is an associate professor of history and chair of the International Studies Program at Colby College. He is the author of Resources under Regimes: Technology, Environment, and the State; Industrialized Nature: Brute Force Technology and the Transformation of the Natural World; and Red Atom: Russia's Nuclear Power Program from Stalin to Today.
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