Hidden Costs: Ecological Realism & The ‘Green’ Revolution
Hidden Costs: Ecological Realism & The ‘Green’ Revolution Polymetallic Nodules, Sand Mafias and E-Waste Hazards Stone Age Herbalist From the position of the archaeologist, technology is a neutral term. From flint hand axes to sickles, antler harpoons to fish traps, the earliest forms of technology leverage efficiency and capability at the interface between the human and the rest of the world. There is nothing unnatural about this - crows, otters, monkeys, even crocodiles make use of manipulated objects to exploit their dietary niche. Where there are concerns about how modern technology functions, they shouldn’t be framed as a dichotomy between ‘good’ and ‘bad’, but rather at the specific problems created. Too often what counts for academia today will position any discussion of technology in a framework of ‘neoliberalism’ and ‘systems thinking’. Some will talk of the Anthropocene, barely suppressing their glee at the control such definitions bring. What I want to do here is ou...