Technology and Sustainable Development

The Promise and Pitfalls of Techno-Solutionism

Henrik Skaug Sætra

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN: 9781032350592
• eBook ISBN: 9781000886108
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Sustainable Development
• Index: Computer Science

Technological change is at the core of all major disruptions in human history, and
revolutions, wars, and general development are regularly connected to some sort of
technological change. However, not all development is beneficial. While technology has
fueled great innovations and rapid development, the notion of sustainable development
has gained prominence as we now experience serious social, economic, and environmental
challenges.

This book examines whether technology can be used to fix the very problems caused by
technology, as the various chapters examine different aspects related to how technology
has brought us where we are today (which some will say is the best place humanity's been at
according to a range of metrics), and whether technology helps or hinders us in our efforts
to solve the challenges we currently face. The issues discussed cover the three sustainability
dimensions and include topics such as the materiality of AI, technology in education, AI
for gender equality, innovation and the digital divide, and how technology relates to power,
the political system, and capitalism. The chapters all build on the theoretical backdrop of
technological change, sustainable development, and the UN's Sustainable Development
Goals are actively used throughout this book, both to examine how these goals capture or
overlook central elements of sustainable development, and also to facilitate and create a
common framework of engagement between the chapters.

This book provides a novel combination of traditional theories that are explored
through different case studies, providing the ground for a better understanding of how
and when technology can – and cannot – be the enabler of sustainable development.
It is thus an important resource for students of all disciplines, technologists, and those
developing and applying new technologies. It is also a valuable resource for politicians
and regulators attempting to harness the power of technology for good, while limiting its
negative potential.

The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been
made available under a Creative Commons [Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives
(CC-BY-NC-ND)] 4.0 license. Funded by Østfold University College.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Contributors
• Chapter 1 ◾ Introduction: The Promise and Pitfalls of Techno-solutionism
• Chapter 2 ◾ Key Concepts: Technology and Sustainable Development
• Chapter 3 ◾ Artificial Intelligence, Artificial Solutions: Placing the Climate Emergency at the Center of AI Developments
• Chapter 4 ◾ Sustainable Climate Engineering Innovation and the Need for Accountability
• Chapter 5 ◾ Shinigami Eyes and Social Media Labeling as a Technology for Self-care
• Chapter 6 ◾ Lessons to Be Learnt? Education, Techno-solutionism, and Sustainable Development
• Chapter 7 ◾ Virtual Reality and Autism
• Chapter 8 ◾ The Technologically Sustained Digital Divide
• Chapter 9 ◾ Spot on SDG 5: Addressing Gender (In-)equality Within and With AI
• Chapter 10 ◾ A Legal Sustainability Approach to Align the Order of Rules and Actions in the Context of Digital Innovation
• Chapter 11 ◾ Governing Toward Sustainable Development: From a Path-Dependent Transition to a Disruptive One
• Chapter 12 ◾ Capitalism, Sustainability, and Democracy
• Chapter 13 ◾ Nudging Policy or Crowding It Out? Green Nudges as Ideational Technologies
• Chapter 14 ◾ The Fallacy of Disruptive Technologies and the Primacy of Politics: Sustainable Development Goals as an Example
• Chapter 15 ◾ Technology and the Distribution of Power
• Chapter 16 ◾ What Does Data Valuation Literature Tell Us About Methods and Dimensions? Implications for City Data Marketplaces
• Chapter 17 ◾ Techno-solutionism Facing Post-liberal Oligarchy
• Chapter 18 ◾ The Role of Technology in Alternatives to Growth-Based Sustainable Development
• Chapter 19 ◾ Conclusion: The Promise and Pitfalls of Techno-solutionism for Sustainable Development
• Index