MAKERERE UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY

SAN3112: ANTHROPOLOGY OF SOCIAL CHANGE AND

TECHNOLOGY

Semester I, 2023/2024 Course Outline

Lecturer in charge:
Robert Kabumbuli, PhD
Room 1 Social Sciences, E-mail: robertkabumbuli@yahoo.com

Introduction and description

This course is optional and is available to third year students of both Sociology and
Social Anthropology. It examines the relationship between social change and
technology. It examines impact of technology in both pre- and post-industrial
society, from the role of human tools to the impact of highly technological
equipment and science. The course begins with an overview of the theoretical
approaches to the linkage between technology, culture and society. The students
will examine the role of technology as a determinant of culture. Particular attention
will be given to the diffusion and transfer of new technology and its impact on
social development and change. The course aims to encourage students to think
about the influence of technology in society and development.

Course objectives

This course is aimed at enabling the students to examine the relationship between
social change and technology in the broadest sense. Emphasis will be put on the
processes and theories of change in the developing world.

Learning outcomes

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At the end of the course, learners will be able to examine the relationship between
social change and technology, to analyse the processes of third world development,
and also be able to apply the theories of change in the developing world.

Assessment method
Students will be assessed through tests/quizzes and a final examination. The tests
will constitute 40% while the examination constitutes 60% of the total assessment.
Students are advised to take all forms of assessment very seriously, and to desist
from any form of academic dishonesty.

Course outline

 Concepts in social change and technology

 Theories of social change
 Linkages between technology, culture and society
 The role of technology as a determinant of culture
 Technology and social development (i.e., tribal, peasant, industrial, post-
industrial)
 Adaptation to technological change
 Diffusion and transfer of new technology
 Social consequences of technological change

Key Readings

Elsobeihi, M., and Abu-Naser, S. (2017). Effects of Mobile Technology on Human

Relationships. International Journal of Engineering and Information Systems, 1,
110-125.

Adger, N. W. 2005: Vulnerability: in Global Environmental Change; Vol 16

Angelica Valeria Ospina and Richard Heeks (2010): Linking ICTs and Climate
Adaptation

Ambrose, Stanley H. (2001). Paleolithic Technology and Human Evolution.

Science. .

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Borgmann, Albert (2006). "Technology as a Cultural Force: . The Canadian
Journal of Sociology.

Charlie Gere (2005) Art, Time and Technology: Histories of the Disappearing
Body, Berg

Donald A. MacKenzie and Judy Wajcman, "Introductory Essay" in The Social

Shaping of Technology, 2nd ed. (Buckingham, England : Open University
Press, 1999)

Eric Schatzberg (2006): "Technik Comes to America: Changing Meanings of

Technology Before 1930," Technology and Culture 47

Everett Rogers: The Diffusion of Innovations, 5th Edition 2003

Frank Popper (2007) From Technological to Virtual Art, Leonardo Books, MIT
Press

Franklin, Ursula. "Real World of Technology". House of Anansi Press.

Guston, David H. (2000). Between politics and science: Assuring the integrity and
productivity of research. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Kevin Kelly (2010) What Technology Wants. New York, Viking Press,

Kremer, Michael (1993). "Population Growth and Technological Change: One

Million B.C. to 1990". Quarterly Journal of Economics (The MIT Press)

Mark Kirby: Sociology in Perspective

National Science Foundation (2007): Science and Engineering Indicators 2002.

Taye Assefa (Ed) et al (2001) Globalization, Democracy, and Development in

Africa, OSSREA.
Tim Curry et al; Sociology for the 21st Century, Chpt 2 – Culture, society and
social change

Wise, George (1985). "Science and Technology". Osiris (2nd Series) 1: 229–246.