Hello Central?: Gender, Technology, and Culture in the Formation of Telephone Systems - Couverture rigide

Martin, Michèle

 
9780773508309: Hello Central?: Gender, Technology, and Culture in the Formation of Telephone Systems
Couverture rigide
ISBN 10 : 0773508309 ISBN 13 : 9780773508309
Editeur : McGill-Queen's University Press, 1991

Synopsis

Drawing on the rich and unexplored Bell Canada archives in Montreal, Martin analyses the development of the telephone system in Canada, particularly in Ontario and Quebec, from 1878 to 1920. Bell Telephone originally envisaged the telephone as a business tool for a relatively small group of male professionals. The women who worked as operators -- an occupation which rapidly became a female ghetto -- played a key role in mediating the demands of telephone users and the limitations of the new technology. The many women who began to use the telephone for domestic, two-way communication eventually forced Bell Telephone to change its approach and ultimately transformed the telephone's social impact. Through a critical examination of the political and economic aspects of the development of telephone systems, Martin outlines changes in the nature of women's economic experience and in their participation in the community. She analyses the transformation of the telephone into a "public utility," stressing the ever-present economic incentives at the base of Bell Canada's decision making. She also examines the impact of this new technology on women and the labour process and on women's social and cultural practices. Her study not only provides an important understanding of a particular period but also insight into the effect of new communication technology on social structure.

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À propos de l'auteur

Michèle Martin is professor emerita in the School of Journalism and Communication at Carleton University.

Les informations fournies dans la section « A propos du livre » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

Éditeur
McGill-Queen's University Press
Date d'édition
1991
Langue
anglais
ISBN 10 
0773508309
ISBN 13 
9780773508309
Reliure
Relié
Nombre de pages
232
Coordonnées du fabricant
non disponible
Personne responsable
non disponible