1. USERS AND TECHNOLOGY: PERSPECTIVES ON INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY I203 Social and Organizational Issues of Information

2. 2 Two theoretical perspectives for technological development and change  Technological Determinism  Social Constructivism

3. 3 Quick Question: What is Technology? “The chief hazard attributable to the concept of technology, as currently used, is the mystification, passivity, and fatalism it helps to engender. Today we invoke the word as if it were a discrete entity, and thus a causative factor--if not the chief causal factor--in every conceivable development of modernity. Although we cannot say exactly what that "it" really is, it nonetheless serves as a surrogate agent, as well as a mask, for the human actors actually responsible for the developments in question.” -Leo Marx

4. 4 Technological determinism: Billiard Ball Metaphor Revisited  Technological change comes from outside society as part of an autonomous scientific development  Technologies have their own inertia, totally separate from the influences of people.  At the extreme, technology causes social change  Key Argument:  Technological determinists argue that new, superior technologies will ultimately push aside competitors and society adapts as a result.

5. 5 Consequences of Technological Determinism  At the Macro level, technology causes social and historical changes.  At the Micro level, technology affects social and social- psychological processes as individuals use technology and tools.

6. The hand-mill gives you society with the feudal lord; the steam-mill, society with the industrial capitalist. Karl Marx, The Poverty of Philosophy

7. 7 Examples of Determinism Lynn White The invention of the stirrup led to Feudalism. See: White, L. Medieval Technology and Social Change. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1962. “The history of the use of the horse in battle is divided into three periods: first, that of the charioteer; second, that of the mounted warrior who clings to his steed by pressure of the knees; and third, that of the rider equipped with stirrups.”

8. 8 More Examples of Determinism The automobile created suburbia. See: McShane, C. Down the Asphalt Path: The Automobile and the American City. New York, NY: Columbia University Press. 1995.

9. 9 Do Machines Make History?  Heilbroner:  1) Can we explain why technology evolves in the sequence that it does?  2) How does the mode of production (i.e., hand-mill) affect the superstructure of social relationships?

10. 10 Sequence of Technology (Heilbroner)  Simultaneity of Invention  Absence of Technological Leaps  Predictability of Technology

11. 11 How does a technology affect society? (Heilbroner)  Evidence:  1) Composition of Labor Force  2) Hierarchical Organization of Work “Had Marx written that the steam-mill gives you society with the industrial manager, he would have been closer to the truth.” (p. 341)

13. 13 “Technologies do no doubt, as Richard Sclove (1995) puts it, 'constitute part of a society's core political infrastructure', just as do laws regulating behavior and taxation, but I think it's worth making the point that they are not likely to be any more predictable in their effects than those.” Critiques of Tech Determinism

14. 14 The Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) Perspective

15. 15 Understanding the Social Construction of Technology  Both technical processes and social processes shape technological development.  Thus, what we think of as ‘technology’ is produced through many factors, including:  Behaviors of individuals and groups  Economy and markets  Consumer needs and wants

16. 16 Main arguments of SCOT (Pinch and Bijker)  Technology can develop differently based on the social circumstances in a given environment.  This occurs through “interpretive flexibility”:  any object can mean different things to different relevant groups.

17. 17 Interpretive Flexibility

18. 18 Main arguments of SCOT (continued)  Stabilization  Over time, negotiations lead to convergence.  Closure  Closure is a social process in which the technological artifact reaches a final, consensual form.

19. 19 Relevant ‘Social Groups’ in SCOT  What is a ‘relevant social group’?  “all members of a social group share the same set of meanings, attached to a specific artifact” (Pinch and Bijker 1987)  Different groups may lead to different interpretations.  Resulting “technology” is a negotiation between these groups.