Technocratic movement

:This article is a movement supporting the use of technology to enhance society. See Technocrat (disambiguation) for other definitions.

History

Howard Scott started the Technocratic movement as the "Technical Alliance" in the winter of 1918-1919. The Technical Alliance, composed of mostly scientists and engineers, started an energy-survey of the North American continent near the beginning of the 20th century. Many of their conclusions gave a scientific background upon which they based their revolutionary social structure. In 1933, the group became incorporated in the state of New York as a non-profit, non-political, non-sectarian organization known as Technocracy Inc. Led by Howard Scott, then director-in-chief (his organizational title was "Chief Engineer"), the organization promoted its goals with a North American lecture tour in 1934, gaining support throughout the depression years. Their magazine, The Technocrat, is still published today and the movement still continues after more than 70 years of history. One of the most notable members of the movement was M. King Hubbert, a geophysicist who proposed the theory which has become known as the Hubbert Peak or peak oil.

Related Topics:
Howard Scott - Technocracy Inc - M. King Hubbert - Hubbert Peak

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To date, two serious studies of the early history of the Technocratic movement have been published:

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William E. Akin, Technocracy and the American Dream: The Technocrat Movement, 1900-1941 (University of California Press, 1977)

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Henry Elsner, The Technocrats, Prophets of Automation (Syracuse University Press, 1967)

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Elsner's account is from a sociological perspective and so might provide more social theory than history. Akin's book is much more detailed, though deals mostly with the intellectual history of the movement. Neither book is terribly critical of the movement, though they both agree that the Technocrats' influence on American history has been negligible. They gained a fair amount of national press attention in the midst of the Great Depression, but their time in the spotlight lasted scarcely a year, from 1932-33. The movement split into rival groups in 1933, and they quickly faded into obscurity.

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Technocracy Inc. History Page

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