Technology is often portrayed as an objective measure of development, and its advancement as something that can be examined outside of politics. But the history of technology, particularly military technology, has been deeply inflected by nationalist sentiment.

Peter A. Lorge
About This Quote

The line, “Technology is often portrayed as an objective measure of development, and its advancement as something that can be examined outside of politics. But the history of technology, particularly military technology, has been deeply inflected by nationalist sentiment.” is written by Jussi Parikka who is one of the leading scholars on the history of technology. According to this quote, technology should not be used to measure development or advancement in terms of how it can be examined outside of politics. However, this quote also indicates that the history of technology has been deeply inflected by nationalism.

Nationalism is an ideology which promotes one country's superiority over another country. For example, the Japanese believed that they were technologically superior to other countries while American believed that they were technologically superior to other countries.

Source: The Asian Military Revolution: From Gunpowder To The Bomb

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