Technology and the making of states

Abstract

This edited volume is the English translation of the 7th volume in a series on the history of technology in the Netherlands, which brings together in a remarkably synthetic way the analyses of the previous 6 volumes (Schot et al. 1998–2003). It is the result of a collaborative effort of almost eighty scholars and over a decade of research, conferences, workshops and, one supposes, arguments, disagreements and contested approaches. This book offers a window with a view of how large-scale collaborative research can reach very fruitful results and provides a model of how national histories of technology can be written. It is nigh impossible to do justice in a standard review to such a large volume with ten different chapters of between 60 and 70 pages each, which themselves are syntheses of book-length publications; even more so when the subjects range from small to big technologies, production to consumerism, and elites to everyday folk. That being said, a very thorough and all inclusive introductory chapter explains the unifying themes of the volume and suggests a number of arguments which follow from this admirably ambitious collective work. It is thus easier for the reader to engage with these issues. The overall purpose of this book is to ‘‘understand the role of technology in Dutch modern history’’ (13). Rightly not being deterred by the straw man of technological determinism, technology is attributed a central, indeed ‘‘constitutive’’, role (13). This marks an important, though understated in the volume, separation from accounts which still shun from attributing to technology a central role in the constitution of society and the shaping of a country’s history. Informed by approaches which highlight the co-construction of technology and society (14), the volume engages with the ‘‘mutual shaping’’ (13) of technology and Dutch Society.