Social shaping of technology
Encyclopedia
According to Williams and Edge, "Central to Social Shaping of Technology (SST) is the concept that there are `choices' (though not necessarily conscious choices) inherent in both the design of individual artifacts and systems, and in the direction or trajectory of innovation programs."
If technology does not emerge from the unfolding of a predetermined logic or a single determinant, then innovation is a 'garden of forking paths'. Different routes are available, potentially leading to different technological outcomes. Significantly, these choices could have differing implications for society and for particular social groups.
SST is one of the models of the technology:society relationship which emerged in the 1980s with MacKenzie and Wajcman's influential 1985 collection, alongside Pinch and Bijker's Social construction of technology
framework and Callon and Latour's Actor-Network Theory
. These have a common feature of criticism of the Linear Model of Innovation
and Technological determinism
. It differs from these notably in the attention it pays to the influence of the social and technological context of development which shapes innovation choices. SST is concerned to explore the material consequences of different technical choices, but criticises Technological determinism
, which argues that technology follows its own developmental path, outside of human influences, and in turn, influences society. In this way, social shaping theorists conceive the relationship between technology and society as one of 'mutual shaping'.
, Bruno Latour
, Wiebe Bijker
, Thomas P. Hughes
, John Law
, Trevor Pinch
(also Trevor J. Pinch), Michel Callon
, Steve Woolgar
, Thomas J. Misa, Boelie Elzen, Robin WIlliams (academic), Ronald Kline, Marlei Pozzebon and Osman Sadeck
If technology does not emerge from the unfolding of a predetermined logic or a single determinant, then innovation is a 'garden of forking paths'. Different routes are available, potentially leading to different technological outcomes. Significantly, these choices could have differing implications for society and for particular social groups.
SST is one of the models of the technology:society relationship which emerged in the 1980s with MacKenzie and Wajcman's influential 1985 collection, alongside Pinch and Bijker's Social construction of technology
Social construction of technology
Social construction of technology is a theory within the field of Science and Technology Studies. Advocates of SCOT -- that is, social constructivists -- argue that technology does not determine human action, but that rather, human action shapes technology...
framework and Callon and Latour's Actor-Network Theory
Actor-network theory
Actor–network theory, often abbreviated as ANT, is a distinctive approach to social theory and research which originated in the field of science studies...
. These have a common feature of criticism of the Linear Model of Innovation
Linear model of innovation
The Linear Model of Innovation is an early model of innovation that suggests technical change happens in a linear fashion from Invention to Innovation to Diffusion....
and Technological determinism
Technological determinism
Technological determinism is a reductionist theory that presumes that a society's technology drives the development of its social structure and cultural values. The term is believed to have been coined by Thorstein Veblen , an American sociologist...
. It differs from these notably in the attention it pays to the influence of the social and technological context of development which shapes innovation choices. SST is concerned to explore the material consequences of different technical choices, but criticises Technological determinism
Technological determinism
Technological determinism is a reductionist theory that presumes that a society's technology drives the development of its social structure and cultural values. The term is believed to have been coined by Thorstein Veblen , an American sociologist...
, which argues that technology follows its own developmental path, outside of human influences, and in turn, influences society. In this way, social shaping theorists conceive the relationship between technology and society as one of 'mutual shaping'.
See also
- Actor-Network TheoryActor-network theoryActor–network theory, often abbreviated as ANT, is a distinctive approach to social theory and research which originated in the field of science studies...
- Science and technology studiesScience and technology studiesScience, technology and society is the study of how social, political, and cultural values affect scientific research and technological innovation, and how these, in turn, affect society, politics and culture...
- Science studiesScience studiesScience studies is an interdisciplinary research area that seeks to situate scientific expertise in a broad social, historical, and philosophical context. It is concerned with the history of academic disciplines, the interrelationships between science and society, and the alleged covert purposes...
- Social construction of technologySocial construction of technologySocial construction of technology is a theory within the field of Science and Technology Studies. Advocates of SCOT -- that is, social constructivists -- argue that technology does not determine human action, but that rather, human action shapes technology...
(SCOT) - Technological determinismTechnological determinismTechnological determinism is a reductionist theory that presumes that a society's technology drives the development of its social structure and cultural values. The term is believed to have been coined by Thorstein Veblen , an American sociologist...
- Technology and societyTechnology and societyTechnology and society or technology and culture refers to cyclical co-dependence, co-influence, co-production of technology and society upon the other . This synergistic relationship occurred from the dawn of humankind, with the invention of simple tools and continues into modern technologies such...
External links
Names associated with this field
Donald A. MacKenzie, Judy WajcmanJudy Wajcman
Judy Wajcman is a Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics and Political Science.She was formerly a Professor of Sociology in the Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University. She has been a Visiting Professor at the Lehman Brothers Centre for Women in Business...
, Bruno Latour
Bruno Latour
Bruno Latour is a French sociologist of science and anthropologist and an influential theorist in the field of Science and Technology Studies...
, Wiebe Bijker
Wiebe Bijker
Wiebe E. Bijker is a Dutch professor, chair of the Department of Social Science and Technology at Maastricht University in the Netherlands....
, Thomas P. Hughes
Thomas P. Hughes
Thomas Parke Hughes is an American Historian of Technology. He is an emeritus professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania and is a visiting professor at MIT and Stanford.He received his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia in 1953....
, John Law
John Law (sociologist)
John Law is a sociologist currently on the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Open University and key proponent of Actor-network theory. Actor-network theory, sometimes abbreviated to ANT, is a social science approach for describing and explaining social, organisational, scientific and technological...
, Trevor Pinch
Trevor Pinch
Trevor J. Pinch is a sociologist and former chair of the Science and Technology Studies department at Cornell University.Pinch has a degree in Physics from the Imperial College London and a PhD in Sociology from the University of Bath...
(also Trevor J. Pinch), Michel Callon
Michel Callon
Michel Callon is a Professor of Sociology at the Ecole des Mines de Paris and member of the Centre de Sociologie de l'Innovation. He is an influential author in the field of Science and Technology Studies and one of the leading proponents of Actor-network theory with Bruno Latour.In recent years ,...
, Steve Woolgar
Steve Woolgar
Stephen Woolgar is a British sociologist. He has worked closely with Bruno Latour, with whom he co-authored Laboratory Life: the Social Construction of Scientific Facts ....
, Thomas J. Misa, Boelie Elzen, Robin WIlliams (academic), Ronald Kline, Marlei Pozzebon and Osman Sadeck