Abstract

FOLADORI, Guillermo. Precision Agriculture and its Capitalist Character: The Non-Neutrality of Technology. Trilogía. Cienc. Tecnol. Soc. [online]. 2022, vol.14, n.28, e400.  Epub Feb 21, 2023. ISSN 2145-7778.  https://doi.org/10.22430/21457778.2339.

One of the most important aspects of today’s capitalism is technology and its rapid development. Technology is the pillar of innovation studies, and it is debated whether developing countries can make qualitative leaps if they manage to embark on the new technologies that emerge as years pass (e.g., biotechnology, nanotechnology, the Internet of Things, big data, etc.). Industry 4.0 is referred to as a new technological revolution, although it encompasses a variety of technologies. In this article, we analyze the widely discussed topic of technological neutrality, but we do so in relation to one of the leading technologies in the Industry 4.0 movement: precision agriculture. Based on a review of the scientific literature on precision agriculture and using the method of analysis of critical political economy, we draw theoretical-methodological conclusions that are not always acknowledged in the controversy surrounding the neutrality of technology. This article identifies objective trends in the field of precision agriculture, and not only circumstantial causes of political-subjective origin, which are common in the literature of Science, Technology and Society Studies.

Keywords : Precision agriculture; double character of labor; political economy of science and technology; technological neutrality.

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