Technocracy and the Epistemology of Human Behavior: The Debate over Power Without Knowledge

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Paul Gunn (University of London, UK)

Technocracy and the Epistemology of Human Behavior

The Debate over Power Without Knowledge

Paul Gunn (University of London, UK)

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Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

Routledge
27 May 2024

Deconstructionism, Structuralism, Post-structuralism; Philosophy: epistemology & theory of knowledge; Social & political philosophy; Anarchism; Political structures: democracy

In Power Without Knowledge: A Critique of Technocracy (2019), Jeffrey Friedman presented a sweeping reinterpretation of modern politics and government as technocratic, even in many of its democratic dimensions. Building on a new definition of technocracy as governance aimed at solving social and economic problems, Friedman showed that the epistemic demands that such governance places on political elites and ordinary people alike may be overwhelming if technocrats fail to attend to the ideational heterogeneity of the human beings whose control is the object of technocratic power. Yet a recognition of ideational heterogeneity considerably complicates the task of predicting behavior, which is essential to technocratic control—as Friedman demonstrated with pathbreaking critiques of the homogenizing strategies of neoclassical economics, positivist social science, behavioral economics, and populist democratic politics.

In Technocracy and the Epistemology of Human Behavior, thirteen political theorists, including Friedman himself, debate the implications of Power Without Knowledge for social science, modern governance, the politics of expertise, post-structuralism, anarchism, and democratic theory; and Friedman responds to his critics with an expansive defense of his vision of contemporary politics and his political epistemology of ideationally diverse human beings.

This book was originally published as a special issue of the Critical Review.

Edited by: Paul Gunn (University of London UK)
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 216mm, Width: 138mm,
ISBN: 9781032357546
ISBN 10: 1032357541
Pages: 374
Publication Date: 27 May 2024
Audience: College/higher education , Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Paul Gunn is Lecturer in Political Economy and Public Policy in the Department of Politics and International Relations at Goldsmiths, University of London, UK, and Associate Editor of the Critical Review.