A post-structural analysis of progress in engineering

This paper examines developments in engineering and their impact on society from a post-structural perspective, focusing on social impact, especially on labor, and on the environmental impact of technology, particularly in terms of global increases in consumption. Displacement of labor is discussed in terms of growing underemployment as machine enhanced productivity evolves from production of tangible goods to skilled and professional work. Ethical questions need to be re-framed to be relevant to reflect the evolution of work structures. Current developments create a positive feedback loop with adverse consequences for socio-political and environmental systems. Some analysts believe our current social system has already become highly unstable.