Technocracy

If Engineers Ruled the World

Technocracy
1. History 2. The Ideas

3. What Happened?

Forerunners of the Technocrats

Francis Bacon, The New Atlantis, UK, 1627

Forerunners of the Technocrats

Saint-Simon, Du Systeme Industriel, France, 1802
`Industrial ability must replace feudal and military power; it is more important that administrators be competent than that they belong to a particular political party.

Saint-Simons Three Chambers of Parliament

1. `Invention: engineers and artists 2. `Examination: scientists 3. `Execution: industrialists

Prosper Enfantin, disciple of Saint-Simon

Technocracy in North America

1899: Bellamy publishes `Looking Backward, a look ahead to the distant future (2000 AD) 1911: Taylor publishes `Principles of Scientific Management.
1916: Gantt organises fifty engineers into `The New Machine.

Technocracy in North America

1917: The US enters World War I
1921: Thorsten Veblen publishes `The Engineers and the Price System. Hoover publishes the results of the Committee on the Elimination of Waste.

Technocracy in North America: 1919-1934

1919: Howard Scott, a disciple of Veblen, forms the Technical Alliance. The Alliance includes Charles Steinmetz, chief engineer of GE; Richard Tolman, later Dean of Physics at CalTech; and Veblen himself. 1921: The Alliance breaks up among accusations that Scott has mismanaged its funds. 1929: The Great Crash, followed by the Depression. 1931: Scott and Rautenstrauch form the Committee on technocracy.

Official and unofficial Technocratic publications from the 1930s