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Technocracy movement
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{{Short description|1930s North American social movement}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} [[File:TechnocracyMonad.svg|thumb|The official symbol of the technocracy movement (Technocracy Inc.). The monad emblem signifies balance between consumption and production.]] The '''technocracy movement''' was a social movement active in the United States and Canada in the 1930s which favored [[technocracy]] as a system of government over [[representative democracy]] and concomitant [[partisan (politics)|partisan politics]]. Historians associate the movement with engineer [[Howard Scott (engineer)|Howard Scott]]'s [[Technical Alliance]] and Technocracy Incorporated prior to the internal [[political faction|factionalism]] that dissolved the latter organization during the [[Second World War]]. Technocracy was ultimately overshadowed by other proposals for dealing with the crisis of the [[Great Depression]].<ref>Edwin T. Layton. [https://www.jstor.org/pss/3102180 Book review: The Technocrats, Prophets of Automation], ''Technology and Culture'', vol. 9, no. 2 (April 1968), pp. 256-257.</ref> The technocracy movement proposed replacing partisan politicians and business people with [[scientists]] and [[engineers]] who had the technical expertise to manage the [[economy]]. The movement did not fully aspire to [[scientocracy]].<ref name= tay>{{cite journal| author= Peter J. Taylor| doi= 10.1007/BF00146987 | title= Technocratic Optimism, H.T. Odum, and the Partial Transformation of Ecological Metaphor after World War II| journal= Journal of the History of Biology| volume= 21| number= 2| date= June 1988| pages= 213–244 | pmid= 11621655 }}</ref> The movement was committed to abstaining from all partisan politics and [[communist revolution]]. It gained strength in the 1930s. In 1940, due to opposition to the Second World War, it was banned in Canada. The ban was lifted in 1943 when it was apparent that "Technocracy Inc. was committed to the war effort, proposing a program of total conscription."<ref name= "ualberta.ca">{{cite web|url=https://discoverarchives.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/technocracy-fonds|title= Technocracy Fonds|website=ualberta.ca|publisher=[[University of Alberta]]|accessdate=April 20, 2022}}</ref> The movement continued to expand during the remainder of the war, and new sections were formed in [[Ontario]] and the [[The Maritimes|Maritime Provinces]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | title= Technocracy Movement| encyclopedia= Encyclopedia Canadiana| year= 1968 | page= 29}}</ref> The technocracy movement survived into the 21st century and, {{as of|2013|lc=y}}, was continuing to publish a newsletter, maintain a website, and hold member meetings.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=TrendEvents |url=http://trendevents.herokuapp.com/TrendEvents_2013_11.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308082738/http://trendevents.herokuapp.com/TrendEvents_2013_11.pdf|archive-date=8 March 2021|publisher= Technocracy, Inc. |magazine=TrendEvents|location=Ferndale, Washington, US |date=November–December 2013 }}</ref> The Technocracy, Inc. web site later had a post on it stating that the site was under renovation, under new ownership, announcing a "Transition Plan 2016", and an online meeting in April 2021.<ref>{{cite web | title=under renovation! | website=Technocracy Inc. - official site| url=https://www.technocracyinc.org/ | access-date=26 January 2025}}</ref> Smaller groups included the [[Technical Alliance]], the New Machine, and the Utopian Society of America.
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