Questioning Technology with Jacques Ellul

Questioning Technology with Jacques Ellul, David W. Gill and Lisa Richmond, eds. Pickwick Publications (ISBN: 9798385244430) 2025

Summary: Essays on the technological thought of Ellul, both foundational principles and applications.

In 1954, French sociologist-philosopher-theologian, Jacques Ellul published La Technique: L’enjeu du siècle. It didn’t get much notice until published in English ten years later as The Technological Society. It is one of three books on technology Ellul wrote, along with The Technological System and The Technological Bluff. One of the most significant ideas from his works is the idea of technique. He sees technique as the ultimate stage of technology which he describes as “the totality of methods rationally arrived at and having absolute efficiency (for a given stage of development) in every field of human activity.”

Does that sound familiar? As our generation comes to grips with what it means to live in a highly networked society with technology integrated into the fabric of our lives, all toward the end of increasing efficiency, Ellul sounds prescient. Likewise, as we grapple with the implications of the rapid advances in artificial intelligence and its implementation, Ellul’s descriptions are eerily prophetic.

In 2024, the International Jacques Ellul Society met for its biennial conference on the topic of Ellul’s thought on technology. Out of the conference presentations arose the 31 essays in this volume. I could write a review on each one, given their depth and breadth. I won’t do that but rather try to give you a sense of the richness of Christian thinking on technology, inspired by the writing of Jacques Ellul more than seventy years ago!

The book is divided into two parts: Foundations and Applications. The first part focus on the contours of Ellul’s thought, sometimes in conversation with other thinkers. Carl Mitcham opens the section charting and critiquing Ellul’s thought within the larger discussion of the philosophy of technology. Jennifer Karns Alexander takes Ellul’s ideas about efficiency and raises questions about the “efficiencies” of AI, noting the ways its inefficiencies are offloaded to other sectors of society. I was fascinated by the contrast Justine McIntyre makes between technique’s appeal to satiety and nature’s promise of sufficiency. Several essays weigh Ellul in light of other thinkers: Weber, Mumford, Fuller, Charbonneau, Illich, and Arnold Gehlen. Finally, Felicia Wu Song closes out the section with a Christian ethic of non-power in a digital world focused on technique and productivity.

The second part opens with what I thought one of the most important essays of the whole by David W. Gill, one of the conference organizers. In “The End of Technicized Work” he explores the implications of our technopoly on the displacement of workers and its economic consequences and what work and vocation might look like in this brave new world. Some of the essays explore the implications of technology on music, art, organizations, law, education, and the state. For example, I would highlight T. Bone Burnett’s essay on recording technology, tracing what he sees as a deterioration of sound quality in the technological advances and what he is doing to counter this. Several essays explore what it means to be human in a world of technique. Geraldine E. Forsberg’s essay on a theological perspective particularly stood out in this regard

The second part closes with two essays of particular applicative import. Firstly, challenging church use of technology, Luke Proctor, calls the church to incarnational, not virtual reality. Secondly, noting Ellul’s focus on the individual, Matthew Littlehale argues for the role of local communities to resist the incursion of technique.

In conclusion, this volume represents some of the best thinking extending the insights of Jacques Ellul. In particular, it challenges those of us in the Christian community to discernment rather than passive adoption of the latest technology. Where do we draw the line and not bow to the god of efficiency? And what does it mean to walk in the “non-power” of the cross? What will it mean for us to both minister to and advocate for the displaced? Finally, how will we live into the incarnational, embodied life of human community in an increasingly digital world?

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.