Toying with Democracy: Woken Promises: Episode 23

In Part 1 of our “Understanding Technocracy” series, we examine some of the basic definitions, including technocracy and populism. Using political scientist Anders Esmark’s “The New Technocracy,” (2020), we examine a brief history of technocracy and the four technocratic revolutions (closely related to the industrial revolutions). We look at some of the founding fathers of technocracy including Norwegian-American Thorstein Veblen (1857–1929), who wrote the “technocratic bible” and also cult leader Howard Scott (1890-1970) founder of Technocracy Inc. The episode wraps up with the startling realization that the Canadian federal government is currently conducting depoliticization, a key dimension of a technocratic regime.