Social technology
Encyclopedia
The term Social Technology was first used at the University of Chicago by Albion Woodbury Small and Charles Richmond Henderson
around the end of the 19th century. Small and Henderson were close colleagues, and it is hard to tell who used the term first. At a seminar in 1898, Small spoke of social technology as being the use of knowledge of the facts and laws of social life to bring about rational social aims. In 1895 Henderson had coined to term “social art” for the methods by which improvements to society are and may be introduced. Social science makes predictions and social art gives directions.
In 1901 Henderson published an article titled “The Scope of Social Technology” in which he renamed this social art as 'social technology', and described it as 'a system of conscious and purposeful organization of persons in which every actual, natural social organization finds its true place, and all factors in harmony cooperate to realize an increasing aggregate and better proportions of the “health, wealth, beauty, knowledge, sociability, and rightness” desires.' In 1923, the term Social Technology was given a wider meaning in works of Ernest Burgess
and Thomas D. Eliot, who defined Social Technology to include the application, particularly in social work, of techniques developed by psychology and other social sciences.
Closely related to Social Technology is the term Social Engineering
. Thorstein Veblen
used 'Social Engineering' in 1891, but appeared to take its meaning for granted, suggesting it was used earlier . In the 1930's both 'social engineering' and 'social technology' became associated with the large scale socio-economic policies of the Soviet Union. The Soviet economist Yevgeni Preobrazhensky
wrote a book called “Novaya Ekonomika" – New economics in which he defined Social Technology as the science of organized production, organized labour, and of a system of production-relations.
Karl Popper
discusses Social Technology and Social Engineering in his famous book “The Open Society and Its Enemies” and in the article “The Poverty of History” , in which he criticized the Soviet political system and the marxist theory (Marxism
) on which it was based. Popper distinguished two forms of Social Technology. Utopian Social Technology strives to reach an ultimate utopian end state by wholesale social reform. In the process, this kind of Social Technology inevitably leads to human suffering. Communism is an example of Utopian Social Technology. The other form he called Piecemeal Social Technology, which has the more modest aim to bring about improvements in social circumstances, and depends on a critical, scientific attitude. The use of Piecemeal Social Technology is typical of the democratic system.
In 1966, the term Social Technology was used as the title of the book Social Technology by Olaf Helmer
, Bernice Brown and Theodore Gordon, from the Rand Corporation. It has acquired an expanded range of meanings as a result of Facebook
and other Social Utilities. In current usage social technology is technology for social purposes, but originally it meant applications of the social sciences for various purposes, especially the selection and exploitation of experts for decision making. Social Technology includes Social Software
which is not confined to computer software but also includes Social Procedure
. It also includes Social Hardware
which began with the telegraph and telephone, long before those utilities used computers. Social Technology also includes old technologies such as the postal system and other means of interpersonal communication which long predate telephones, computer networks or social networking tools.
A recent popular book on the subject is Groundswell
by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff.. This use of the term is slightly out alignment with other words based on the same Greek roots. From consideration of the root words themselves and by analogy with Psychology
and Sociology
, Technology
should be a discipline, and a person who has received formal education in that field should be a Technologist
. But in popular usage a Technology is an Invention
or product. The term Social Technology is most commonly used to refer to social utilities such as Facebook, rather than whatever theorical work might have preceded them. But this common usage has become part of the language and as such cannot be disputed except by the pedantic.
Technology has an intimate with Invention
insofar as the inventor studies the subject as well as applying ingenuity to it. Many of the inventions described in The History of Invention by Trevor I. Williams are social inventions.
For example, writing is a social invention, involving both hardware and software—writing implements and the system of symbols inscribed with them. The printing press was also social technology, but it was Social Hardware
, hardware used for communication within society. It served and continues to serve a great role in the organization of society. Use of the printing press itself involved no software in the modern sense of computer software Social software
but it did involve a lot of Social Software
in the sense of Social Procedure
, since intellectual property rights needed to develop. Copyright
is an invention given the force of law.
There are at least two main divisions of Social Technology, one concerned with the public sector and one concerned with the private sector of our society and economy. For the public sector the main areas of study are human rights and governmental policy. Sometimes a single work, like Psychological Solutions to Social Problems: An Introduction to Social Technology by Rainer Knopff and Thomas Flanagan, will address both human rights and government policies which ensure them.
Public policies include aspects of the criminal justice system as well as governmental programs. Perverse incentives: the neglect of social technology in the public sector by Theodore Caplow, discusses a wide range of topics, including use of the death penalty to discourage crime and the welfare system to provide for the needy.
Private sector uses of social technology include the organization and management of private companies, and are often taught under the auspices of university business schools. One book with this orientation is The social technology of organization development by Wyatt Warner Burke, Harvey A. Hornstein. The current use of the term Social Technology as in Chi and Bernoff, op. cit. is entirely consistent with this much earlier book, since both address the use of social technology with a corporate framework.
The term Technology
is often associated with Engineering
. For example one significant role of the Massachusetts Institution of Technology, MIT, is the training of engineers. But a very derogatory name for social technology is Social Engineering. There seems to be no modern course on Social Engineering except the historical study of social engineering as used by the Nazi government of Germany, but there have recently been courses on Social Technology as a positive thing taught at universities including Stanford and the London South Bank University, which offers a full-time 3-years BA (Hons) Social Technology program.
Charles Richmond Henderson
Charles Richmond Henderson was an American sociologist.-Biography:Born in Covington, Indiana, he graduated at the University of Chicago in 1870 and at Union Theological Seminary in 1873...
around the end of the 19th century. Small and Henderson were close colleagues, and it is hard to tell who used the term first. At a seminar in 1898, Small spoke of social technology as being the use of knowledge of the facts and laws of social life to bring about rational social aims. In 1895 Henderson had coined to term “social art” for the methods by which improvements to society are and may be introduced. Social science makes predictions and social art gives directions.
In 1901 Henderson published an article titled “The Scope of Social Technology” in which he renamed this social art as 'social technology', and described it as 'a system of conscious and purposeful organization of persons in which every actual, natural social organization finds its true place, and all factors in harmony cooperate to realize an increasing aggregate and better proportions of the “health, wealth, beauty, knowledge, sociability, and rightness” desires.' In 1923, the term Social Technology was given a wider meaning in works of Ernest Burgess
Ernest Burgess
Ernest Watson Burgess was an urban sociologist born in Tilbury, Ontario. He was educated at Kingfisher College in Oklahoma and continued graduate studies in sociology at the University of Chicago. In 1916, he returned to the University of Chicago, as a faculty member. Burgess was hired as an...
and Thomas D. Eliot, who defined Social Technology to include the application, particularly in social work, of techniques developed by psychology and other social sciences.
Closely related to Social Technology is the term Social Engineering
Social engineering
Social engineering may refer to:* Social engineering , efforts to influence society on a large scale* Social engineering , the practice of obtaining confidential information by manipulating and/or deceiving people....
. Thorstein Veblen
Thorstein Veblen
Thorstein Bunde Veblen, born Torsten Bunde Veblen was an American economist and sociologist, and a leader of the so-called institutional economics movement...
used 'Social Engineering' in 1891, but appeared to take its meaning for granted, suggesting it was used earlier . In the 1930's both 'social engineering' and 'social technology' became associated with the large scale socio-economic policies of the Soviet Union. The Soviet economist Yevgeni Preobrazhensky
Yevgeni Preobrazhensky
Yevgeni Alekseyevich Preobrazhensky was an Old Bolshevik, an economist and a member of the Central Committee of the Bolshevik faction and, its successor, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.-Life:...
wrote a book called “Novaya Ekonomika" – New economics in which he defined Social Technology as the science of organized production, organized labour, and of a system of production-relations.
Karl Popper
Karl Popper
Sir Karl Raimund Popper, CH FRS FBA was an Austro-British philosopher and a professor at the London School of Economics...
discusses Social Technology and Social Engineering in his famous book “The Open Society and Its Enemies” and in the article “The Poverty of History” , in which he criticized the Soviet political system and the marxist theory (Marxism
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
) on which it was based. Popper distinguished two forms of Social Technology. Utopian Social Technology strives to reach an ultimate utopian end state by wholesale social reform. In the process, this kind of Social Technology inevitably leads to human suffering. Communism is an example of Utopian Social Technology. The other form he called Piecemeal Social Technology, which has the more modest aim to bring about improvements in social circumstances, and depends on a critical, scientific attitude. The use of Piecemeal Social Technology is typical of the democratic system.
In 1966, the term Social Technology was used as the title of the book Social Technology by Olaf Helmer
Olaf Helmer
Olaf Helmer was a German-American logician and futurologist. He was a researcher at the RAND Corporation from 1946 to 1968 and a co-founder of the Institute for the Future....
, Bernice Brown and Theodore Gordon, from the Rand Corporation. It has acquired an expanded range of meanings as a result of Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
and other Social Utilities. In current usage social technology is technology for social purposes, but originally it meant applications of the social sciences for various purposes, especially the selection and exploitation of experts for decision making. Social Technology includes Social Software
Social Software
In philosophy and the social sciences, social software is an interdisciplinary research program that borrowsmathematical tools and techniques from game theory and computer science in order to analyze and design social procedures...
which is not confined to computer software but also includes Social Procedure
Social procedure
The term Social Procedure is sometimes applied to any of the procedures carried out by people in various areas of society, such as legislative assemblies, judicial systems, and resource arbiters, such as banks or other lending organizations...
. It also includes Social Hardware
Social hardware
Social Hardware is a branch of Social Technology and related in a natural way to the branch called Social Software. It may be said to have begun with the most primitive writing implements, but the most conspicuous examples are the telegraph and telephone, especially these systems before they used...
which began with the telegraph and telephone, long before those utilities used computers. Social Technology also includes old technologies such as the postal system and other means of interpersonal communication which long predate telephones, computer networks or social networking tools.
A recent popular book on the subject is Groundswell
Groundswell (book)
Groundswell is a book by Forrester Research executives Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff that focuses on how companies can take advantage of emerging social technologies.It was published in 2008 by Harvard Business Press...
by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff.. This use of the term is slightly out alignment with other words based on the same Greek roots. From consideration of the root words themselves and by analogy with Psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
and Sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
, Technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
should be a discipline, and a person who has received formal education in that field should be a Technologist
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
. But in popular usage a Technology is an Invention
Invention
An invention is a novel composition, device, or process. An invention may be derived from a pre-existing model or idea, or it could be independently conceived, in which case it may be a radical breakthrough. In addition, there is cultural invention, which is an innovative set of useful social...
or product. The term Social Technology is most commonly used to refer to social utilities such as Facebook, rather than whatever theorical work might have preceded them. But this common usage has become part of the language and as such cannot be disputed except by the pedantic.
Technology has an intimate with Invention
Invention
An invention is a novel composition, device, or process. An invention may be derived from a pre-existing model or idea, or it could be independently conceived, in which case it may be a radical breakthrough. In addition, there is cultural invention, which is an innovative set of useful social...
insofar as the inventor studies the subject as well as applying ingenuity to it. Many of the inventions described in The History of Invention by Trevor I. Williams are social inventions.
For example, writing is a social invention, involving both hardware and software—writing implements and the system of symbols inscribed with them. The printing press was also social technology, but it was Social Hardware
Social hardware
Social Hardware is a branch of Social Technology and related in a natural way to the branch called Social Software. It may be said to have begun with the most primitive writing implements, but the most conspicuous examples are the telegraph and telephone, especially these systems before they used...
, hardware used for communication within society. It served and continues to serve a great role in the organization of society. Use of the printing press itself involved no software in the modern sense of computer software Social software
Social software
Social software applications include communication tools and interactive tools. Communication tools typically handle the capturing, storing and presentation of communication, usually written but increasingly including audio and video as well. Interactive tools handle mediated interactions between a...
but it did involve a lot of Social Software
Social Software
In philosophy and the social sciences, social software is an interdisciplinary research program that borrowsmathematical tools and techniques from game theory and computer science in order to analyze and design social procedures...
in the sense of Social Procedure
Social procedure
The term Social Procedure is sometimes applied to any of the procedures carried out by people in various areas of society, such as legislative assemblies, judicial systems, and resource arbiters, such as banks or other lending organizations...
, since intellectual property rights needed to develop. Copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
is an invention given the force of law.
There are at least two main divisions of Social Technology, one concerned with the public sector and one concerned with the private sector of our society and economy. For the public sector the main areas of study are human rights and governmental policy. Sometimes a single work, like Psychological Solutions to Social Problems: An Introduction to Social Technology by Rainer Knopff and Thomas Flanagan, will address both human rights and government policies which ensure them.
Public policies include aspects of the criminal justice system as well as governmental programs. Perverse incentives: the neglect of social technology in the public sector by Theodore Caplow, discusses a wide range of topics, including use of the death penalty to discourage crime and the welfare system to provide for the needy.
Private sector uses of social technology include the organization and management of private companies, and are often taught under the auspices of university business schools. One book with this orientation is The social technology of organization development by Wyatt Warner Burke, Harvey A. Hornstein. The current use of the term Social Technology as in Chi and Bernoff, op. cit. is entirely consistent with this much earlier book, since both address the use of social technology with a corporate framework.
The term Technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
is often associated with Engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
. For example one significant role of the Massachusetts Institution of Technology, MIT, is the training of engineers. But a very derogatory name for social technology is Social Engineering. There seems to be no modern course on Social Engineering except the historical study of social engineering as used by the Nazi government of Germany, but there have recently been courses on Social Technology as a positive thing taught at universities including Stanford and the London South Bank University, which offers a full-time 3-years BA (Hons) Social Technology program.
See also
- Social softwareSocial softwareSocial software applications include communication tools and interactive tools. Communication tools typically handle the capturing, storing and presentation of communication, usually written but increasingly including audio and video as well. Interactive tools handle mediated interactions between a...
- Social software (social procedure)
- Social hardwareSocial hardwareSocial Hardware is a branch of Social Technology and related in a natural way to the branch called Social Software. It may be said to have begun with the most primitive writing implements, but the most conspicuous examples are the telegraph and telephone, especially these systems before they used...
- Social procedureSocial procedureThe term Social Procedure is sometimes applied to any of the procedures carried out by people in various areas of society, such as legislative assemblies, judicial systems, and resource arbiters, such as banks or other lending organizations...