(Ideas here are drawn from "Technology and Human Affairs" by Larry Hickman and Al-Hibri, 1981)

The Image:

• Previous discussions of TD create a pessimistic image of the future
• Ellul: Humans are virtually helpless, the "value" of efficiency drives everything, so that even the rejection of a technique involves the application of a new technique. There is no plan and no control.
• Marcuse: The technological system (technological rationality) has absorbed all- culture, politics and the economy. "Freedom" itself has become part of the oppressive reality of modern technological society as we define the range of choices available to us only within the artificially constructed rational system- Alienation. Only those outside the "system" can effect change over it- and they are cut off (Transcendence).

But there are those who modify this harsh image:

• Arnold Pacey: Tempers the determinist thesis. (1)The geometrical forward drive of technological rationality is not smooth and uniform. (2)The human actor (can) shapes history. (3)Interactivity is the key. The problem may well be political- the image of autonomous technology leads to the hegemony of the technocrat.

• Theodore Roszak:
  1. "The Making of a Counter-Culture"
  2. The issue is technocracy, the system of experts and their "rational plans for efficiency. Technology is, perhaps, benign. The solution to the problem is not radical choice, but human construction- community building.
  3. Technological "man" is like someone dependent on a powerful drug. The "pusher" is the technocrat who continues to feed and expand the addiction. Escape is difficult- but possible through community of individuals work together.
  4. Technology is not "beyond control", but it is "out of control" and can still be 'recalled.' It is a cultural rather than a political process

• Robert Pirsig
  1. "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"
  2. Technology confronts us with a double danger: Rejecting it without understanding it leads to oppression and accepting it without critical understanding leads to domination.
  3. One must both understand and use technology in order to effectively critique it

• Others:
  1. John Galbraith: "the autonomy of technology resembles ignorance"
  2. Marx: History (and technology) proceeds along a rather preset course, yet human freedom consists in understanding the processes of change and actively participating

The significant thrust is that through a critical understanding of the process of technological development, the human actor can participate and control the course of change.

The Social Construction of Technology

URL: http://www.umsl.edu/~keelr/280/techsoc3.html
Owner: Robert O. Keel: rok@umsl.edu
Last Updated: Wednesday, February 26, 2014 11:50