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The Diffusion of “Small” Western Technologies in the Middle East : Invention, Use and Need in the 19th and 20th Centuries / Uri M. Kupferschmidt.

By: Material type: TextTextSeries: Studies on Modern Orient ; 44Publisher: Berlin ; Boston : De Gruyter, [2023]Copyright date: ©2023Description: 1 online resource (XII, 278 p.)Content type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9783110777192
  • 9783110777307
  • 9783110777222
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 338.5024658 23
LOC classification:
  • HD30.22 .K874 2023
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources: Available additional physical forms:
  • Issued also in print.
Contents:
Frontmatter -- Preface -- A note on transliteration -- Contents -- Introduction -- 1 Who needed department stores in Egypt? -- 2 On the diffusion of “Small” Western technologies and consumer goods in the Middle East -- 3 The social history of the sewing machine in the Middle East -- 4 Leapfrogging from typewriter to personal computer in the Middle East -- 5 From Ibn Haitham to Abou Naddara and Al-Misri Effendi: eyeglasses in the Middle East -- 6 Did the piano have a chance in the Middle East? -- Bibliography -- List of Figures -- Index of proper names -- Index of geographical names -- Index of subjects
Summary: In recent years we have become interested in the diffusion of “small” Western technologies in the countries of the Middle East during the 19th and 20th centuries, the era of Imperialism and first globalization. We postulated a contrast between “small” and “big” technologies. Under the latter category we may understand railway systems, electricity grids, telegraph networks, and steam navigation, imposed by foreign powers or installed by connected local entrepreneurs. But many “small” Western technologies, such as sewing machines, typewriters, pianos, eyeglasses, and similar consumer goods, which had been developed and manufactured in Europe and America, were wanted, and willingly acquired by the agency of individual users elsewhere. In a few cases, however, the inventions had to be adapted, or were overstepped, and even delayed. Some were adopted as social markers or status symbols only by elites who could afford them. Processes of adoption and diffusion therefore differed according to cultural settings, preferences, and needs. Social and cultural historians, and social scientists, not only of the Middle East, will find in this collection of essays a new approach to the impact of Western technological inventions on the Middle East.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9783110777222

Frontmatter -- Preface -- A note on transliteration -- Contents -- Introduction -- 1 Who needed department stores in Egypt? -- 2 On the diffusion of “Small” Western technologies and consumer goods in the Middle East -- 3 The social history of the sewing machine in the Middle East -- 4 Leapfrogging from typewriter to personal computer in the Middle East -- 5 From Ibn Haitham to Abou Naddara and Al-Misri Effendi: eyeglasses in the Middle East -- 6 Did the piano have a chance in the Middle East? -- Bibliography -- List of Figures -- Index of proper names -- Index of geographical names -- Index of subjects

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http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

In recent years we have become interested in the diffusion of “small” Western technologies in the countries of the Middle East during the 19th and 20th centuries, the era of Imperialism and first globalization. We postulated a contrast between “small” and “big” technologies. Under the latter category we may understand railway systems, electricity grids, telegraph networks, and steam navigation, imposed by foreign powers or installed by connected local entrepreneurs. But many “small” Western technologies, such as sewing machines, typewriters, pianos, eyeglasses, and similar consumer goods, which had been developed and manufactured in Europe and America, were wanted, and willingly acquired by the agency of individual users elsewhere. In a few cases, however, the inventions had to be adapted, or were overstepped, and even delayed. Some were adopted as social markers or status symbols only by elites who could afford them. Processes of adoption and diffusion therefore differed according to cultural settings, preferences, and needs. Social and cultural historians, and social scientists, not only of the Middle East, will find in this collection of essays a new approach to the impact of Western technological inventions on the Middle East.

Issued also in print.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 26. Apr 2024)