Newmedia on Mon, 25 Mar 2013 19:00:59 +0100 (CET) |
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<nettime> Technological Construction of Society |
Folks: Based on the categories that have become widespread over the past 40 years, I guess that I am a "technological determinist" -- perhaps the worst sort of "thought criminal" possible in social science. So, as you might (not) be surprised to hear, I have been frustrated trying to figure out what that means and, indeed, what "crime" I have committed. I've spoken with quite a few social scientists who have used the term in their work -- typically declaring that *they* (and everyone they admire) must definitely can't imagine committing this crime themselves -- but not one of them was able to identify someone (or some specific work) that clearly exemplifies what they are opposed to. Why all the fuss? Some have told me that it was an artifact of the "culture wars" in social science in the 1970s. Some have told me that it was all a major "ideological" mistake that seriously weakened their ability to understand social developments. Some have just told me that they are embarrassed to have ever brought it up. No one "defended" it with any confidence. Yet, the *crime* is still on the books. What seems to typically be "at risk" with the word *determinism* is the notion of "human agency." But, as best I can tell, there hasn't been a careful investigation of what this *agency* means by those making the claims. There are apparently some underlying assumptions being held here about human behaviors and attitudes that don't get discussed. What notion of social and psychological *causality* is implied? Feuerbach said " Der Mensch ist, was er isst," so what does this mean about our relationship to our man-made environment? What makes us who we are? Our chromosomes? Our childhood traumas? Our "class" status? Our breakfast? I've heard that the rise of unquestioning belief in SCOT (the Social Construction Of Technology), starting in the 1970s when this phrase was first used, was more a matter of "turf-wars" in academia than it was a "serious" intellectual endeavor. Grants are, I suppose, a reflection of somebody's "agency." Can anyone shed some light on this situation? How did it happen? Does it make any sense today? Mark Stahlman Brooklyn NY # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: http://mx.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/nettime-l # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@kein.org