Notes from
Chapter 2:
Society and
Technological Change
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The
ideas and examples referenced below are notes compiled by Robert Keel from his reading of Volti, Rudi. 2014. Society and Technological Change. 7th edition. New York, NY: Worth Publishers. They are intended for classroom
use.
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WINNERS AND LOSERS: THE DIFFERENTIAL EFFECTS OF TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE
- There are both negative
and positive aspects to technology.
- Technology greatest
single source of economic growth (technology of production).
Technology
as a Subversive Force
Technology myths
- Technology can function
without altering existing social arrangements.
- Technological solutions
better than (less painful) social or political solutions.
"Technological change
can be a subversive process that results in the modification or destruction
of established social roles, relationships and values." (page 22)
- Some change is small
- Some change is massive
- Economy distinctly affected
by Technological change:
- Destruction of obsolete
firms: Pony Express: Telegraph wires & Telephone
- Typesetting vs. Computers
- Internet Phone vs.
Telephone
- Concern over Technology
has always been present:
"Railroads, if they
succeed, will give an unnatural impetus to society, destroy all the relations
that exist between man and man, overthrow all mercantile regulations, and
create, at the peril of life, all sorts of confusion and distress." (from
Muller in Volti, page 22)
Effects of Technological
Change:
Yir
Yoront:
- Australian aboriginals
(Paleolithic people)
- Greatest Technology was
Stone Axe
- Stone axesimple
axe but involved many materials
- Axe tied to gender identityonly
men possessed axe.
- Introduction of steel
axe by missionaries- men, women & children got axes
- Men lost distinct identity,
culture began to disintegrate
- Demise of Yir Yoront
not only tied to the axe, BUT the axe is a good symbol for the new world and technology
imposing itself on traditional aboriginal peoples
Caliente,
Nevada:
Groups can and do defend
themselves against technological change:
China:
- Silk industry: (pre 1850s)
manually unwound silkworm cocoons.
- Jardine Matheson trading
company (Britain) seeks to use steam powered machinery to reel silk.
- Although faster, not
successful because of opposition from Silk Makers Guild.
The Luddites:
- England- Ned
Lud a stocking maker who smashed stocking frames. (see also)
- Luddites-
different groups who smashed machines, but began in hosiery trade.
- Hosiery trade- wanted
to use wider frames to make more hosiery for less money.
- Allowed for use of less
skilled (cheaper) labor. Workers objected.
- Alsobad harvest
led to increase in food costs. Workers pay wasnt meeting their basic
needs: Rebellion.
- Fear of unemployment
because of technological change, not intrinsic fear of machinery.
- Machinery was target
for aggression.
- Worker Protest eventually
took more peaceful formse.g. unions were established.
- Luddite: anyone opposed
to modern technology and its extensions.
Recent opposition to the
use of computers and their potential to replace human labor can be seen as a
form of Neo-Luddism (David Noble on
"educational technology" and "Diploma Mills").
Technology does not succeed
or fail on its intrinsic meritsocial, political, economic factors play
role:
- Some technology succeeds
because of particular group interest: Atomic Power.
- Some technology fails
because of particular group interest: AIDS research in early 1980s.
Technology costs money
LOTS of money.
Technology is sponsored by
corporations and governments--thus, disproportionately representing these groups.
What Technology
Can and Cannot Do
- Why is there such a gulf
between social progress and technological progress?
- "If we can put a
man on the moon, why cant we
?"
The Technological Fix
- Technology used to attempt
solutions for many problems.
- Heroin addiction: development
of Methadone and now "cocaine
vaccine"
- Car Accidents: seat belt
and air bags.
- Graffiti on public property:
stronger chemicals to resist paint.
- YET, none of these technological
solutions address underlying social factors
Why Cant Technology
Fix It?
- Social
problems are fundamentally different from technological problems.
- Goals for technology
usually clear and unambiguous: how do you assemble a car.
- Goals for society anything
but clear: many different ways to "solve poverty."
- Social problems- causes
are manifold, human motivation key factor.
- Technological solutions
work best in closed systemno outside factors to interfere.
- When problem cannot be
easily isolated: technological solution less likely to be effective.
- BESIDES, No problem,
technological or otherwise is ever really solved.
- "Solution"
to one problem creates new problems.
- Artificial hearts help sustain life BUT:
- expensive
- aging population
needs to be cared for
- issues of morality
- Internet security
The Appeal of Technocracy
- Despite limitations,
groups (Technocrats) still attempt to make social problems into technological
ones.
- Scientific
Management Theory (Early 20th Century).
- Frederick
Taylor- Metallurgical engineer. (2)
- Time and motion
study: how many motions should it take to complete a job?
- Managers determine
amount of motions needed and workers follow unreservedly.
- Workers benefit
because they dont waste time & managers benefit from higher
yields.
- Workers paid
piecemeal, not wages & since workers are efficient theyll
earn more.
- Taylor: extend
this theory everywhere, homes as well as workplaces.
- Lenin (Russia)
Taylor admirer.
- Work and Monopoly
Capitalism: Critique
The Technocrats Delusion
Once again, technical problems
are not the same as social problems. Even if Scientific Management Theory was
ideal, workers upon whom it was imposed resisted its use (Hawthorne Experiment
and "Human Relations" approach). Basic Fallacy of Technocracy:
administration can replace politics.
"Neither technology
nor administration can supply the values that form the basis of [our] choices.
They cannot tell us what we should do with our lives, nor can they help us
to resolve the fundamental issue that all societies confront: how to distribute
fairly lifes necessities and luxuries." (pages 36-37)(Planet Money Makes a T-Shirt)
Technological Determinism and some alternatives
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Questions (page 37):
- Can you think of
some established industries that have been undermined by technological advance?
What industries might be threatened in the future?
- Were the Luddites
justified in their attacks on machinery? What about modern day Luddites?
- What examples of
technological fixes can you give? Are they successful? How can
we judge success in this context?
- What is a technocrat?
What role would or do they have in modern political systems?
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Chapter
3
URL: http://www.umsl.edu/~keelr/280/soctechchange/soctech2.htm
Owner: Robert O. Keel: rok@umsl.edu
Last Updated:
Wednesday, February 3, 2016 12:07