Appropriate technology
Firstly, they could effectively make drinkable water available to the locals, meaning the concept of the AT was sound. Secondly, the AT had long-term success, despite being employed as a temporary measure. It was maintained for at least two years and was still running when last checked in 2007. The device also required no outside intervention to be effectively used during this time and a number of unskilled operators who had received brief training during its installation were able to run them with little difficulty. This example shows that AT can be successful when it is properly installed in an area where it resolves a legitimate problem rather than being forced unnecessarily onto people who are unwilling to adopt a new technology. Overall, the effective execution, or lack thereof, of AT has been a very significant factor in its increasing lack of favour because it meant that during the period when interest in AT was at its peak, there were very few success stories that could be pointed to in order to gain support and strengthen the AT movement. Even though more recent successes, such as the water filtration device in Indonesia, have shown that AT can be highly effective, by this time most parties once interested in AT have long moved on to other forms of aid.
The impact of the failure of the Alternative Appropriate Technology movement in the USA
The final point I will look at is the extent to which the sudden collapse of AT’s sister movement, based in developed countries as a counterculture movement around technology, led to falling support for AT to be employed in developing countries. Many peopl e, especially in the USA, adapted Schumacher’s ideas to developed economies as a way to move away from large-scale, monopolistic industry to smaller-scale, more self-sufficient and environmentally sustainable technology. This movement, which I will refer to as ‘Alternative AT’ did not last for long, and by around 1985 most of the excitement around it had died down. The reasons for this are mainly political and cultural, since the economic viability of Alternative AT was never that important because the movement was mainly a form of counterculture that thrived alongside the hippie movement and shared many similar goals, but in a more academic field. Politically, the Alternative AT movement never truly caught on, despite initiatives such as the Office of Appropriate Technology being set up in the USA and a number of government policies aimed towards sustainability. This is because government subsidies for and investment into large-scale industry continued as before due to how integrated such industry was in the American economy (Pursell, 1993, p.633). This meant that the Alternative AT movement lacked funding, significantly contributing to its failure. Additionally, cultural factors such as America's ‘ re- masculinization campaign ’ (Pursell, 1993, p.630) after the Vietnam War advanced the downfall of Alternative AT, which many regarded as feminine and weak compared to powerful, mainstream industry. This is demonstrated by the Republican victories in Sacramento and Washington in 1992, shortly after which all Alternative AT funding was stopped. Pursell makes the link between the collapse of Alternative AT and the main AT movement clear by referencing Schumacher’s statement that conventional AT supporters were ‘ the people of the forward stampede ’ , whereas those who supported the Alternative AT movement were the ‘ home-comers ’ (Pursell, 1993, p635). Therefore, it follows that the collapse of the ‘ home-comers ’ would significantly impact the progress of the ‘ forward stampede ’ . The fact that Alternative AT became so popular supports this view since much of the focus on AT was diverted away from developing countries and never
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