Abstract
In our everyday lives, we come into contact with a series of technological objects and we employ technology in a number of ways. Usually, the “relation” we develop with these objects works, on a first level, for our benefit. On the other hand, we actually know little about the technologies we use in order to accomplish various activities. Technologies have neither been developed, nor do they exist independently, even though we tend to perceive them as natural objects in themselves. Perhaps they are as much defined by causal laws, which are relevant to their “behavior” as specific artifacts, as they obtain ad hoc characteristics through our significations, which already belong to a specific social system. This ignorance of common sense often leads to the exclusion of a number of topics that are intertwined with the technological phenomenon from the everyday agenda of political debate. Moreover, the errors that stem from our unsophisticated or even unconscious attitude towards these artifacts have important consequences on various areas, including “development” and “work”, education, the environment, and human communication itself. This paper will try to present elements of a critical theory of technology in order to illustrate the need to link the technological phenomenon with everyday political practice.
Highlights
It goes without saying that the change we experience today, which is fuelled by a series of new technologies, differs from other profound changes that have defined our culture in the past
The current change affects our everyday lives, but the new tools it offers us can be seen as an extension of our senses, of our various modes of communication and, to a certain extent, of our brains
What is missing is a complete critical perspective of the technological phenomenon that will start from the irrefutable fact of the interconnection and interaction between various fields
Summary
It goes without saying that the change we experience today, which is fuelled by a series of new technologies, differs from other profound changes that have defined our culture in the past. We refer to technology as specific practices, artifacts and decision making processes and not as an intangible and abstract field that proceeds autonomously, deterministically and independently of the wider social context (Winner, 1986; Bijker et al, 1987; Feenberg, 2010a; Brey, 2010) In this light, we suggest that technology can only mean all the things that definitely partake (without being able to explain the reasons why) in the shaping of life and contribute in the status quo of a world that tries to discover ways and methods for its survival and development (Kokkinos, 2006). What is missing is a complete critical perspective of the technological phenomenon that will start from the irrefutable fact of the interconnection and interaction between various fields This critique should be neither fragmentary nor disconnected from the wider social developments that take place in the context of political decision making. Our goal is to lay down a reference framework for a potential exploration of the development of our social system based on a fuller investigation of the complexity of the “technological realm” regarding mainly the latter’s relation to the current “state of affairs”
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