Samenvatting

This paper intends to show how the North American Technocratie movement, which was a force to reckon with during the early 1930s, vended their politica! aims as non-political by claiming their ideas were prescribed by Technology, which they regarded as being both neutral and efficient. The proponents of Technocracy rejected the capitalist 'Price System' and advocated a Technate: a state governed by technologists that would act as proxies for technology. The Technate would ensure the most efficient system of production and distribution and, by extension, societal arrangements. The Technocrats' ideas resonated strongly in North America, but also gathered support in Europe, leading to the formation of technocratie groups in several countries that promoted impersonal, apolitical, and efficient forms of governance.