New Books in Science, Technology, and Society

Kate McDonald on Asian Mobility History as Labor History

Jul 29, 2024

Kate McDonald, an Associate Professor of History at UC Santa Barbara, dives into the intriguing intersection of Asian mobility and labor history. She shares insights from her current project on human-powered transport, revealing the cultural significance of rickshaws in Japan. The discussion includes riveting stories of rickshaw pullers' uprisings and their fight for rights amidst changing transportation systems. McDonald also explores her unique journey into mobility history, emphasizing the importance of diverse perspectives in understanding transportation's role in society.

01:13:33

Episode guests

Kate McDonald

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Kate McDonald emphasizes the need to expand narratives in technology studies beyond affluent Western contexts to incorporate global perspectives.

Her research highlights the rickshaw's relevance as a symbol of socioeconomic dynamics, merging traditional transport with modernity throughout the 20th century.

The podcast underscores the importance of incorporating labor experiences in transportation narratives, advocating for workers' well-being alongside technological advancements.

Deep dives

The Role of Navel Gazing in Scholarship

A critical issue in contemporary scholarship is the tendency towards navel gazing, where researchers become overly focused on their own context, often neglecting broader narratives. This limitation becomes particularly evident in technology studies, where narratives frequently reflect the perspectives of affluent Western nations. Such a narrowed focus can lead to oversimplified stories about technological progress that fail to account for diverse global contexts, thereby missing vital historical realities. The challenge lies in pushing beyond these comfortable narratives to explore more inclusive and holistic understandings of technology and its implications.

Intro

2min

Revisiting Transportation Narratives

20min

Exploring Rickshaw Uprisings and Labor Movements in Japan

4min

Historical Labor Movements and Commuter Advocacy in Japan

4min

Journeys Through History: Mobility and Identity

16min

Exploring Collaborative Digital Projects in Mobility History

3min

Exploring Mobility and Spatial Humanities

21min

Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, talks to Kate McDonald, Associate Professor of History at University of California, Santa Barbara, about her fascinating research on the history of mobility in Asia and how it looks different when we approach it as a history of work and labor. The pair traverse McDonald’s career from her current project, The Rickshaw and the Railroad: Human-Powered Transport in the Age of the Machine, to her first book, Placing Empire: Travel and the Social Imagination in Imperial Japan (U California Press, 2017) to digital humanities projects she has helped lead. Along the way, they talk about the craft of historical research and what we can learn by revisiting classic texts with mobility and the work of transportation in mind.

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