The Green Solution

Abstract

Most politicians and most political ideologies mention technology, but they rarely put it at the centre of their concerns. There may be reference to the need for technological development or the inadequacies of a particular example of technology, but such comments are usually incidental to the main thrust of the political philosophy. The exception to this general rule is, of course, the Green movement. The Greens’ argument displays a deep mistrust of existing forms of technology, and our reliance upon them. At its starkest, the Green analysis doubts whether democracy and current technology can co-exist. To salvage democracy, much technology needs to be renounced or radically reformed. This chapter examines the Greens’ attack on technology and, in particular, their solution to the problem of linking technology and democracy.