{"product_id":"inventing-ourselves-out-of-jobs-americas-debate-over-technological-unemployment-1929-1981-9780801869136","title":"Inventing Ourselves Out of Jobs?: America's Debate Over Technological Unemployment 1929-1981","description":"\u003cp\u003eSelected by \u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e Magazine as an Outstanding Academic Title\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAmericans today often associate scientific and technological change with progress and personal well-being. Yet underneath our confident assumptions lie serious questions. In \u003ci\u003eInventing Ourselves Out of Jobs?\u003c\/i\u003e Amy Sue Bix locates the origins of this confusion in the Great Depression, when social and economic crisis forced many Americans to re-examine ideas about science, technology, and progress. Growing fear of \"technological unemployment\"--the idea that increasing mechanization displaced human workers--prompted widespread talk about the meaning of progress in the new Machine Age. In response, promoters of technology mounted a powerful public relations campaign: in advertising, writings, speeches, and World Fair exhibits, company leaders and prominent scientists and engineers insisted that mechanization ultimately would ensure American happiness and national success.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEmphasizing the cultural context of the debate, Bix concentrates on public perceptions of work and technological change: the debate over mechanization turned on ideology, on the way various observers in the 1930s interpreted the relationship between technology and American progress. Although similar concerns arose in other countries, Bix highlights what was unique about the American response: \"Discussion about workplace change,\" she argues, \"became entwined with particular musings about the meaning of American history, the western frontier, and a sense of national destiny.\" In her concluding chapters and epilogue, Bix shows how the issue changed during World War II and in postwar America and brings the debate forward to show its relevance to modern readers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Amy Sue Bix\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Johns Hopkins University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 02\/01\/2002\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 392\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.41lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.04h x 6.00w x 0.99d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780801869136\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAmy Sue Bix\u003c\/b\u003e is an associate professor of history at Iowa State University.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Johns Hopkins University Press","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":41261841776755,"sku":"9.7808E+12","price":56.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/9255\/0515\/products\/img_f582417d-0f71-459c-a1f3-5e0b918bccfa.jpg?v=1705502121","url":"https:\/\/bookstorenmore.com\/en-de\/products\/inventing-ourselves-out-of-jobs-americas-debate-over-technological-unemployment-1929-1981-9780801869136","provider":"Bookstore N More","version":"1.0","type":"link"}