Origen, naturaleza y concepto de Derecho Comunitario

Meaning

Technocracy is a system of government in which a decision-maker or makers are elected by the electorate or appointed on the basis of their expertise in a given area of responsibility, particularly with regard to scientific or technical knowledge. This system contrasts

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with representative democracy - the notion that elected representatives should be the primary decision-makers in government. In technocracy, decision-makers are selected on the basis of specialized knowledge and performance, rather than political affiliations or parliamentary skills (Wikipedia). The individuals that occupy such positions in a technocracy are known as "technocrats." An example of a technocrat could be a banker who is a trained economist and follows a set of rules that apply to empirical data. Technocrats are individuals with technical training and occupations who perceive many important societal problems as being solvable with the applied use of technology and related applications.

Technocrats are primarily driven by their cognitive "problem-solution mindsets" and only in part by particular occupational group interests.

Origin

Technocracy is derived from the Greek

words tekhne meaning skill and kratos meaning power, as in governance, or rule. William Henry Smyth, a California engineer, is credited with inventing the word technocracy in 1919. He used it to describe "the rule of the people made effective through the agency of their servants, the scientists and engineers". Smyth used the term in his 1919 article

"'Technocracy'—Ways and Means to Gain Industrial Democracy".

Smyth's usage referred to Industrial Democracy: a movement to integrate workers into decision making through existing firms or revolution. In the 1930s, through the influence of Howard Scott and the technocracy movement he founded, the term technocracy came to mean, 'government by technical decision making'. Before this time, the Platonic idea of Philosopher-kings represents a sort of technocracy in which the state is run by those with specialist knowledge, in this case, the knowledge of the Good, rather than scientific knowledge. The Platonic claim is that those who best understand goodness should be empowered to lead the state, as they would lead it toward the path of happiness. Whilst knowledge of the Good is different from knowledge of science, rulers in a technocracy are appointed based on a certain grasp of technical skill, rather than democratic mandate (Wikipedia).

Criticism against Technocracy

In a democratic society, the most obvious criticism is that there is an inherent tension between technocracy and democracy. Technocrats often may not follow the will of the people because by definition they may have specialized expertise that the general population lacks. Technocrats may or may not be accountable to the will of the people for such decisions. In any government, regardless of who appoints the technocrats, there is always a risk that technocrats will engage in policymaking that favors their own interests or others whom they serve over the public interest.

Technocrats are necessarily placed in a position of trust, since the knowledge used to enact their decisions is to some degree inaccessible or

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not understandable to the general public. This creates a situation where there can be a high risk of self-dealing, collusion, corruption, and cronyism.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

1. Define Anthropotechnics.

2. Examine three key themes in Anthropotechnics.

4.0 CONCLUSION

This unit considered contemporary issues in labour such as Anthropotechnics and technocracy. The meaning, origin, themes and criticisms against these concepts were considered. Anthropotechnics was seen to be a word that is used in different fields of knowledge to denote something that has to do with the relation of man and machine. Peter Sloterdijk popularized the word in philosophy when he used it in his work - You must change your life to emphasize the different aspect to which humanity is tilting towards enslavement by technology, ascetism and immunology. Technocracy on the other hand was defined as the government of experts but criticized for possibility of corruption via self-dealing.

5.0 SUMMARY

 Anthropotechnics is a concept that draws attention to humanity’s tilt towards self-enslavement to technologies, ascetism and immunology.

 Technocracy is the government of experts. It was first used in 1919 by William Henry Smyth to describe the rule of scientist and engineer.

 Technocracy is criticized for the possibility of technocrats taking advantage of their position to be involved in, self-dealing, corruption and cronyism.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

1. What is technocracy?

2. State the major criticism against technocracy.

7.0 REFERENCES / FURTHER READING

Bernotat, R.K (1970). “Anthropotechnics in Vehicle Control, Dynamic System Control and Guidance by Man in Light of Anthropotechnics: Treating Approaches to Man Machine System Optimization. Ergonomics. 13. 353 – 377.

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Cole, David (2021). Sloterdijk’s. Anthropotechnics.

www.iiaorg.comRetrieved May 2021

Lemble, Janet (1973). Bronze and Iron, old Latin Poetry from its Beginnings to 100 BC. University of California press.

Roney, Patrick and Rossi, Andrea (2021).Sloterdijk’s Anthropotechnics.

Angelaki, 26:1,3-8

Rocher, Guy ((1972). Introduction to Sociology. Academic publishers.

Sloterdijk, Peter (2014). You Must Change Your Life. Cambridge: Polity.

Google scholar.

Sloterdijk, Peter (2014). Not Saved: Essays after Heidegger. Cambridge:

Polity.

Sloterdijk, Peter (2012). The Art of Philosophy: Wisdom as a Practice.

New York: Columbia.

Sloterdijk, Peter (2004). “Anthropo-technology”. New Perspective Quarterly, 21.4 12 – 19

Anthropotechnic. en.m.wikipedia.org Retrieved May 2021.

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UNIT 4: LAW, ETHICS AND LABOUR