Modernity and Technology, pgs. 1-73

Chapter One describes what will be later covered in the entire book. Written by Misa, it mentions a few important theorists that will later be discussed and outlines the chapters from other contributing writers. Misa lays out four proposals that are worth recounting (pgs. 5-15).

1. The concepts of "technology" and "modernity" have a tangled past.
2. Technology may be the truly distinctive feature of modernity.
3. Modernization theory missed what was modern about technology.
4. Post-modernism no less and no more than modernism is tangled up with technology (His phrasing, not mine).

At this point the reader should know what's about to be crammed down his or her respective maw, and also the ideological starting points of Misa and company.

Chapter Two outlines how the authors define modernity theory and technology studies. Good thing, because the introduction failed to do so. Without blowing the chapter for other readers, this is my take. Brey, the author of this chapter, makes an attempt to validate how modernity theories and technology theories operating on both the macro and micro level should augment each other and lead researchers to a more middling understanding of reality. My questions: Why do we care about a middling ground between technology studies and modernity? It seems that if a theorist would like to merge theory there are many other spheres to choose from besides these two. I'm not discrediting the relevance of Brey's project, I just want to know why.

Second question: The ways in which modernity and technology are defined can be recursively deconstructed until they mean almost nothing. I would have liked a more thorough explanation of why Brey feels the definitional boundaries that he sets for himself are important for his project. Is he just standing on the shoulders of other theorists that have set these boundaries for him? If so, why does he respect their opinions?

Overall, the second chapter sets a nice backdrop for the continued invention of the book. The definitions provided were essential for my reading, and there was a good discussion of historical thought in both modernity and technology studies.