Sociologizing the Technological Frontier: The Next Generation of Growth in China and the World, public lecture by Salvatore Babones (University of Sydney)

Sociologizing the Technological Frontier: The Next Generation of Growth in China and the World

 Public lecture by

Salvatore Babones (University of Sydney)

Abstract: At the foundation of neoclassical growth theory in economics is the concept of the "technological frontier": the world's leading economies are considered to operate at the highest level of available technology, with other countries playing catch-up.  To a sociologist, however, this makes no sense: are homeless people in San Jose, California living at the same technological frontier as engineers on the nearby Google campus?  Just where is the technological frontier?  This presentation sociologizes the technological frontier and frames it in comparative international perspective using concepts from endogenous growth theory in economics and world-systems analysis in sociology.  Middle income countries like China must move beyond building physical infrastructure to develop their human infrastructure: schools, hospitals, housing, transportation, and social services.  The most important priority for continued growth in middle income countries is to being ordinary people up to the developmental level already enjoyed by the middle class.

Salvatore Babones is an associate professor of sociology and social policy at the University of Sydney.  He writes on comparative international development and on quantitative methods for the social sciences.  His most recent book is Methods for Quantitative Macro-Comparative Research (Sage, 2014).