"...wonderfully researched and documented. A fresh look and unique study of the automobile and the culture it both was part of and created. Recommended." - CHOICE

Imes Chiu holds a PhD in Science and Technology Studies and an MA in Southeast Asian Studies from Cornell University. The theme of the conversion of users to radically new or controversial technology was inspired by her project management experience in the manufacturing, hospitality, and retail industries across Asia, Europe, and the United States. Dr. Chiu has taught at Cornell University, Ateneo de Manila University, and the University of Washington. She has published an instructional book and training manuals for international managers and is writing a book on marketing new technologies. Dr. Chiu is a partner in an agricultural processing firm in the Philippines.

Acknowledgments

List of Figures

List of Tables

Introduction

Organization of the Book

Chapter One: Converting Consumers: The Conceptual Dependence of Controversial Artifacts

Artifacts

Social Groups

Users

Black Boxes

Gender

History of the Automobile

Domestication of Technology

Chapter Two: Case One: Domesticating the Devil Wagon: The Interchangeability of Muscle and Motor Power

Creating an Anachronism: The Automobile as a Peripheral Object

Pricing the Devil Wagon: The Barrier to Diffusion?

Animating the Mechanical Beast: The Automobile on the Fringes of Society

Dealing with Death Masks and Demons

Capturing the Slaughterer

Punishing Recalcitrant Chauffeurs

Articulating Ambiguity among Automobile Advocates

Unveiling the Unthinking Machines

Invading the Horse Industry

Moving from the Periphery to the Center of Society

Conjuring Interchangeability in Form at a Cheaper Price

Establishing Interchangeability in Operation

Owning an Entire Stable of Horses in One Vehicle

Recognizing Women’s Patronage

Supplanting the Horse

Chapter Three: Case Two: “Breeding” the Jeep: The Conceptualization and Diffusion of the Iron Warhorse

General Overview

Warhorses and Cavalrymen: Interchangeability in Identity

Warhorses and Men of War: Interchangeability in Functional Specifications

The Horse on Trial: Pressures to Motorize

The “Breeding” of a Cavalry Car: Conceptual Origins

Technical Specifications: The Iron Horse in Conceptual Form

The Birth of the Warhorse

Feminine Origins of the Jeep

Displacement of the Horse

Warhorse in Action: The Jeep in World War II

Jeep Raid as Cavalry Raid

Jeep-Cavalry Formation

The All-American Wonder

The GI and the Jeep

Chapter Four: Case Three: Domesticating the Jeep: The Philippines

Surplus Jeeps

The Horse Legacy

World War II in Manila

The Auto Calesa: The Persistence of Practices

Jeepney Kings: The Legacy of the Horse

New King of the Road

Conversion of Institutions: From Machinelike to Homelike Effect, Filipino Style

Chapter Five: When New Things Were Old

Bibliography

Index