The Social Construction of Technology

Central elements of this presentation come from the thoughts and ideas developed by Wiebe Bijker in "The Social Construction of Technological Systems" (1987) and "Of Bicycles, Bakelites and Bulbs" (1992); as well as the work of Donald MacKenzie: "The Social Shaping of Technology" with Judy Wajcman (1985) and "Inventing Accuracy" (1993).

Main Focus:

Constructionist Studies:

Theory Requirements

Net result will be the construction of an understanding of Socio-technical change which is Probabilistic: neither simply rational and goal directed nor purely idiosyncratic and spontaneous. Socio-technical change is contingent on a variety of factors, including systematic structural constraints (which are contingent factors, too!).

The Safety Bicycle Another example of Interpretive Flexibility: The air tire

Different solutions to different problems are related to needs and concerns of specific groups.

Stabilization:

Closure (problem being solved versus relevant groups perceiving it as being solved?)

Read the Exchange between Bijker, Pinch, and Clayton concerning the revelance of SCOT and the case study of the development of the safety bicycle.

Other Examples from Bijker:

Focus on the Interrelatedness of Technology and Everday Life

What Shapes Technology

Focus on Gender and Technological Development

Domestic Issues

Technological Systems

Economic Factors and Technological Change

Economics, Social Relations and the State

  1. Gender issues and other social relations shape technological development.
  2. Other needs: State determined outweigh rational economic calculations (Germany and synthetic petrol during WWII).
  3. 17th and 18th Century France and England: Technology as source of power, population and wealth- yet in France- "work must be found for the largest number of hands." Brocade loom vs English plain-cloth loom (Former required twice as many workers)
  4. Military operations: The state's military interest in new technologies is often the critical element that allows change in the face of overwhelming costs or other obstacles

Conclusions: from Bijker

Extensions of The Constructionist Perspective:

Actor-Network Theory

Technological Systems

McGinn: Interactivity- Technically induced social change: IDUAR Model

Technology, Power and Social Control: Marx and Conflict Theory

URL: http://www.umsl.edu/~keelr/280/soconstr.html
Owner: Robert O. Keel: rok@umsl.edu
Last Updated: Monday, February 1, 2016 14:13