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Joshua Brinkman – American Farming Culture and the History of Technology | GES Colloquium (Hybrid)
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American Farming Culture and the History of Technology: Social and Cultural Considerations Surrounding Biotechnology in Rural Settings
Hybrid Biltmore 2006 + Zoom | Dr. Brinkman presents his recently published book, contending that farmers in the American Midwest embed social and cultural meanings in technology through performative use that impacts agricultural modernization, policy debates around genetically modified organisms, as well as how rural people interact with new technologies, including biotechnology.
Presenting a history of agriculture in the American Corn Belt, Dr. Brinkman argues that modernization occurred not only for economic reasons but also because of how farmers use technology as a part of their identity and culture.
Histories of agriculture often fail to give agency to farmers in bringing about change and ignore how people embed technology with social meaning. This book, however, shows how farmers use technology to express their identities in unspoken ways and provides a framework for bridging the current rural-urban divide by presenting a fresh perspective on rural cultural practices. Focusing on German and Jeffersonian farmers in the 18th century and Corn Belt producers in the 1920s, the Cold War, and the recent period of globalization, this lecture traces how farmers formed their own versions of rural modernity. Rural people use technology to contest urban modernity and debunk yokel stereotypes, and women specifically employed technology to resist urban gender conceptions. This discussion shows how this performance of rural identity through technological use impacts a variety of current policy issues and business interests surrounding contemporary agriculture, from the controversy over genetically modified organisms and hog confinement facilities to the growth of wind energy and precision technologies. Inspired by the author’s own experience on his family’s farm, this lecture provides a novel and important approach to understanding how farmers’ culture has changed over time, and why machinery is such a potent part of their identity.
This lecture will be of great interest to students and scholars of agricultural history, technology, and policy, rural studies, the history of science and technology, and the history of farming culture in the USA.
Related links:
- American Farming Culture and the History of Technology, Brinkman, 2024
- joshuabrinkman.com
- Joshua Brinkman on American Farming Culture and the History of Technology, Peoples & Things podcast, 2025
- Download seminar poster
Joshua Brinkman, PhD
Assistant Teaching Professor at North Carolina State University | Profile
Dr. Joshua Brinkman is an Assistant Teaching Professor of Science, Technology, and Society (STS) at North Carolina State University. He is a historian of technology and an STS scholar who focuses on the relationship between technology use and identity, as well as the impact of science and technology on policy and the legal system. His research explores the meaning of technology in rural culture, the interplay between technology and race and gender, and the impact of social and cultural constructs on business, law, and policy in the U.S. As a former practicing attorney, he is also interested in energy and climate policy and has written papers bringing STS and humanities perspectives to environmental law. His work also critically studies food, society, and the environment, including modernity in American agriculture and its interaction with the organic foods movement. His work on agriculture was inspired, in part, by visiting and working on his family’s farm. In his spare time, he performs as a jazz and blues musician on saxophone and clarinet in the Raleigh-Durham area.
The Genetic Engineering and Society (GES) Colloquium is a seminar series that brings in speakers to present and stimulate discussion on a variety of topics related to existing and proposed biotechnologies and their place within broader societal changes.
GES Colloquium is jointly taught by Drs. Katie Barnhill and Nourou Barry, and the seminars serve as a great opportunity for our students to build their networks and grow as professionals. To support their efforts, we encourage you to join our in-person seminars, which will now take place in Biltmore 2006.
Remember, we regularly post colloquium seminars as videos on Panopto and on our GES Lectures podcast, allowing you to revisit or catch up on these recordings at your convenience.
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