Notes from Chapter 11: Society and Technological Change

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.

Manufacturing and the production of something by hand--

• For most of time this was the case, until the 18^th century.
• Technological advance is constantly changing the nature of work.

Industrial Production

• Requires large amount of energy.
• Traditionally, wood and plants burned for fuel – human and animal labor provided power.
• Today, fuel is petrol-based, machines supply power.
• Power driven machinery.
  • The water wheel.
  • Steam engines.
• Power driven machinery complemented by the establishment of a new setting for work:

The Factory

• Work no longer done in artisan shop.
• No longer self-employed artisan.
• "Employee" emerges.
• Worker is socially and psychologically separate from employer and work.
• Factory increases production exponentially.
• Factory made close managerial control possible.

• Industrial technologies makes work more regular and precisely scheduled.
• Machinery not cost effective when used irregularly: Shift work and odd working hours emerge.
  • Worker loses autonomy as a result of industrial technologies.
  • "More despotic than the small capitalist who employs workers has ever been." Friedrich Engels (in Volti, page 206)
  • Workers accommodate themselves to the demands of the machinery.

"They [locomotives] come and go with such regularity and precision, and their whistles can be heard so far, that farmers set their clocks by them, and thus one well-regulated institution regulates a whole country. Have not men improved somewhat in punctuality since the railroad was invented? Do they not talk and think faster in the depot than they did in the stage office?" Henry David Thoreau (in Volti, page 206)

• Fundamental question: Does technology determine a basic human process such as work, or is technology itself shaped by economic and social relationships?
• An important feature of technology is that it is used in stages, on a small scale and is expanded as experience with it is gained.
• Some of the factors that contribute to gaining experience are social and political.
• Industrial Technology and the Division of Labor:

Division of labor:

• Reduces production costs.
• Makes managerial control easier to exert.
• Workers are not specialized, can be easily discarded and replaced.
• In an assembly line, production regulated by managers rather than workers--more control.

Scientific Management (Frederick Taylor: The Principles of Scientific Management, 1911)

• The precise scheduling & organizing of work activities.
• Procedures are NEVER left to the workers discretion.

The Scientific Method is quite evident in technologically advanced societies.

• The modern factory cannot run as the perfect machine, with no kinks or problems.
• Breakdowns will inevitably occur and workers will need to address these challenges.
• Thus, training workers to be blind robots is undesirable and ultimately detrimental to technological progress.
• Also, consumers do not want the same thing as "The Jones."
  • As standards of living increase so does the desire for original goods and services.
• Technological Change and White-Collar Work.
  • Number of workers in manufacturing has declined. Less than 30% (seems to be only around 12%) of labor force is in the manufacturing sector.
  • More and more white collar occupations exist.
  • Technology plays an important role in this work.
    • Especially in monitoring employees (keystroke counters, web histories, search terms, etc.).
    • Makes work a 24/7 reality.
  • Empowerment--information access (which used to be restricted).
  • Differential impact based on gender (often to the disadvantage of women or other minorities).

The Computer

• Has created need for greater expertise in clerical work.
• Acts as the electronic equivalent to a supervisor.
• Personal characteristics of employee play a role in how technological change affects their work.
• IRS: computers reduced number of mid-level jobs--blocked advancement for women.

Telework

• 2010: 34 million workers (24.4% of employed workers) did at least some work from home.
• Women (with children) more likely to participate (Second Shift, doubled up).
• Restructuring the "home-workplace" divide.
  • Past--the home was close, but often squalid.
  • Unions often opposed.
  • "Electronic Cottage."
• Today--not just routine work, unionization, "bit-work."
• Still issues of trust (supervisor-employee, and employee-employee: group work).
• Mobile computing--now everywhere is a workplace.

Smart Technologies and Dumb Jobs

• True, a growing number of jobs will require higher degrees of technical skill (Computer and Mathematical Occupations)
• True, plenty of jobs still require minimal levels of skill and training.
• High technology is more the exception than the rule.
• The bulk of new jobs will require rather modest skills.
• Yet--"the skills gap." (or not)
• AND, despite all the growth of technology, the Labor Department reports the most needed jobs will be:
  • "Food Preparation and Serving"
  • "Health Care Support"
  • Personal Care Aides
  • Truck drivers
  • Customer Service Representatives
  • Only Nursing and Post-Secondary Teachers require advanced training

"Basic organizational patterns are the most important determinant of the skill used by workers. When there is a strong division between those who manage and those who work, and when managers view their workers as hostile and unreliable, workers will be treated as replaceable parts…. By contrast, when a more democratic and egalitarian order prevails, technologies that require the initiative and commitment of workers are more likely to be selected, and workers will be given a chance to develop their skills and take their places as valued members of the organization." (page 219)

Questions (pages 219-220):

1. Do you agree that many early industrial technologies were used as ways of controlling labor? What sort of historical research could be done in order to test this proposition?
2. Do employers have a legitimate right to electronically monitor their employees? Would you object to monitoring by your employer? Should federal or state governments pass laws that limit electronic employee monitoring? If so, what
   would be reasonable limits to this practice?
3. Can you see any indications that consumers are showing a preference for non-standardized products? How will changed consumer preferences affect workplace technologies?
4. According to some predictions, a growing number of jobs will be held by "telecommuters"-employees who work at home while using computers to receive, process, and transmit information. What sort of jobs could be done in this way? Would you like to work as a telecommuter? Why?
5. What are some of the key skills used by practitioners of an occupation you are interested in? Which of these skills might be replaced by technological advances in the near future? Would a diminished need for these skills make this occupation more or less attractive to you?
6. As noted in this and the previous chapter, the optimal use of computers in many work settings will require employees who are able to restructure organizational structures and procedures. To be more specific, what sort of things might need to be done? How would you go about preparing for a job that requires skills of this sort?

Chapter 15

URL: http://www.umsl.edu/~keelr/280/soctechchange/soctech11.htm
Owner: Robert O. Keel: rok@umsl.edu
Last Updated: Wednesday, April 6, 2016 10:57