Reviewed by Asher Syed for Readers' Favorite

Tools, Totems, and Totalities by Allen Batteau and Christine Miller looks at technology’s role in shaping modern perceptions and its association with progress. They speak on how objects like video games, medical devices, and infrastructure are categorized as technology and tied to assumptions about efficiency, security, and quality of life. They trace the historical shift from cyclical views of history to the modern belief in continuous advancement, linking it to Enlightenment thought and industrialization. They talk about paradoxes, like increased workloads despite automation and the prioritization of certain applications over others. They argue that technology’s value comes from its social impact rather than inherent capabilities, criticizing techno-fetishism. They analyze large-scale projects, engineering’s focus on advancement over consequences, and the influence of modernist design. Batteau and Miller lean into technology’s intersection with culture, economics, and politics, advocating for a reassessment that prioritizes humanity over efficiency and questions the assumed link between technology and progress.

Tools, Totems, and Totalities by Allen Batteau and Christine Miller is a brilliant, thoughtful, and exhaustively researched examination of how technology shapes human society. The authors' exceptional writing style takes complicated technological and philosophical ideas and makes them understandable, skillfully grounding them in historical context and moving into contemporary prevalence incrementally. As a bibliophile, I was most able to connect with the idea of how even Anna Karenina envelops technology and historical shifts, and Batteau and Miller illuminate those specific cultural forces at play. Their discussion of how modern technology has become a tool for new forms of empire-building—particularly in terms of data harvesting and the attention economy—is especially relevant, and just a bit unsettling. The book is excellent with its critiques on how digital imperialism now extracts personal data and attention, rather than physical resources, drawing crucial connections between past and present forms of power. Overall, this work is a timely read for all who have an interest in the intersection of technology, culture, and politics. Recommended.