Keuzes en patronen in de techniekgeschiedenis van Nederland in de twintigste eeuw

Abstract

Choices and patterns in the development of technology in the Netherlands in the 20th century Techniek in Nederland in de twintigste eeuw (TIN-20) is an impressive work. However, the voluntaristic picture of the modernisation process in the Netherlands in the 20th century that it paints requires, in our opinion, some qualification. This essay argues that the authors of TIN-20 have failed to adopt a clear and consistent position on who was making the choices about technological development and how far actors really had any room for choice at all. Moreover, when the time frame is enlarged to include the entire period from c.1500 onwards, the degree of continuity and repetition in the technological development of the Netherlands turns out to have been higher than the authors of TIN-20 suggest.