Mastering the Machine by Ian Smillie (9781853390968)

Description - Mastering the Machine by Ian Smillie

"Mastering the Machine" attempts to answer the question "Is small still beautiful?", drawing on case studies and previously unpublished material from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. The book is about poverty, its alleviation and reduction - and the critical importance of technology in the process. Ian Smillie demonstrates that the world has learned an incredible amount about development since the publication of "Small is Beautiful" and "The Brandt Report" but that far too little has been done with that knowledge. "Mastering the Machine" examines an aid establishment hooked on hardware, and analyzes what lies behind the failures and successes of the appropriate technology movement. It reviews the technology factor in Third World development over the past 30 years and discusses what has been learned about technology, particularly appropriate technology, in the reduction of poverty during that time.
It draws from the lessons of history and three "development decades", to suggest how multilateral agencies, bilaterals, NGOs (North and South), the private sector and Third World governments - can, through a more holistic approach to technology and its transfer, have a more effective impact on genuine poverty reduction. "Mastering the Machine" is a book that draws together some of the most important development lessons of the past 3 decades.

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