Technology and Society

Book: Technology and Society: Building Our Sociotechnical Future. by Deborah G. Johnson and Jameson M. Wetmore, Editors. The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2008

Review

Excerpt from a "Leonardo" review by Enzo Ferrara:

"the instructive analysis of the exchange between society and technique offered by Deborah G. Johnson, professor of Applied Ethics at the University of Virginia, and Jameson M. Wetmore, assistant professor at the School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, is welcome. Their considerable collection draws contributions from a wide array of sources, ranging from science fiction and recent book essays to papers from scientific and social journals.

The editors enlighten that decisions about technique require more information than what science and engineering traditionally offer. “We need an understanding of how devices, techniques, people, institutions, goals, and values are intertwined” – they write. While efficiency appears as the only necessity imposed on all human activity, they specify: “Making informed decisions about technology is not simply a process of maximizing benefits and minimizing problems; it requires careful reflection on the values that are at stake and thoughtful deliberation about the best strategies to realize those values” (p. xii).

Brief sketches introduce the book’s different sections and each chapter, addressing their sociotechnical pertinence and pointing relevant or contradictory remarks. A few questions with didactical intent close the introductory pages steering further reflection.

The first section, Visions of a technological future, stresses the importance that Western culture commits on upcoming perspectives. The stories about future sociotechnical sceneries reveal underlying trends, with technology always playing a pivotal role, and caution about the perspectives of social change. Utopian contributions by Freeman J. Dyson (Technology and social justice) and Francis Fukuyama (The prolongation of life) are included. A renowned science-fiction novel (The machine stops), written by E. M. Forster in 1909, counterpoints them as a cautionary tale about humans becoming too dependent on technologies.

Section two, The relationship between technology and society, explores the variety of ways in which machines and societies influence each other. Among others, the historian of economics R. L. Heilbroner (Do machines make history?), the French anthropologist Bruno Latour (Where are the missing masses?), and the leader of the Creative commons project, L. Lessig (Code is law), challenge the idea that people have little control over technology and try the social constructivist argument against technological determinism.

Then, Technology and values, denotes numerous ways in which technologies can reinforce or undermine ethics and principles. Readings offer examples of how technology can enable certain social relationships and constrict other, reinforcing or weakening a system of values. Apparently, a technological society diminishes the significance of the humanities, but J. M. Wetmore discussing the technological choices adopted by the Amish society and D. Sarewitz (Pas de trios: science, technology, and the marketplace) challenge this idea along with the concept of progress as an effective mean to solve all human problems. R. Dyer (White) explores the intersection of racial issues with photography and motion picture development, indicating the power of the media as a major example of technology exerting control over human values.

In the fourth section, The complex nature of sociotechnical systems, two categories of complexity are addressed: the first relates with the multiplicity of social factors that affect the growth of sociotechnical systems; the second considers how the technical aspect of a design can never be completely understood. H. Collins and T. Pinch provide two contributions on the study of the Challenger explosion (The naked launch) and the demonstration of reliability and functionality of new devices (Crash). D. Vinck (Redesigning a shielding wall) argues that complexity is the norm if technical components, whatever their role, are involved in a project.

The last section, Twenty-first century challenges, returns to the future with an outlook on forthcoming labour and the transformation of family life (Feminization of work in the information age, J. Wajcman). Technological imperative is faced with social imperative (Shaping technology for the ‘good life’, G. Chapman; Questioning surveillance and security, T. Monahan) with an eye on the poor to envision the world we want and activate in building a sociotechnical future better to all (Nanotechnology and the developing world, Salamanca-Buentello et al.; Nanotechnology overcome poverty or widen disparities?, N. Invernizzi, G. Foladori).

Since it is not entirely subservient to humanity, it is difficult to make distinction between technique and its social meaning. Modern technology has become a total phenomenon, the defining force of a new order and techniques have specific social and psychological consequences, independent of our desire. However, human beings not necessarily have to adapt to it and accept any drastic change, like substituting technological environments for nature and society.

As a whole, Technology and Society assembles a remarkable collection of provocative arguments, using a friendly and thoughtful approach. The readings make the relationship between technology, society and values convincingly visible. Jacques Ellul's commitment to scrutinize the development of technique forced him to threaten the endangerment of humanity, unable to distinguish what to keep or loose between technologies, what is welcome as legitimate human development and what is to reject as dehumanization. "Each of us – he concluded – in his own life, must seek ways of resisting and transcending technological determinism (...). The first act of freedom is to become aware of the necessity". This book, decidedly, is a major step towards awareness." (http://leonardo.info/reviews/feb2009/ferrara_technology.html)