[Air-L] Technology as ideologically neutral?

[Janet Sternberg]

Greetings, and thank you for reminding us of this important issue.

Regarding the notion that technology in general is not ideologically 
neutral, the late Neil Postman immediately comes to mind, as well as 
other scholars such as Jacques Ellul, who have been identified with the 
intellectual tradition Postman led, media ecology. Two relevant classics 
which have stood the test of time, although they don't mention the 
Internet specifically:

Postman, N. (1992). Technopoly: The surrender of culture to technology. 
New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Ellul, J. (1964). The technological society (J. Wilkinson, Trans.). New 
York: Vintage Books. (Original work published 1954)

Regards to all,
Janet

Janet Sternberg, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Communication and Media Studies
Latin American and Latino Studies
Fordham University
Bronx, NY 10458-9993 USA
718-817-4855 voice | 718-817-4868 fax
jsternberg at fordham.edu | janet.sternberg at nyu.edu
http://www.media-ecology.org/



Charles Ess wrote:
> Dear AoIRists,
> I'm trying to gather both accessible and, to some degree, "landmark" or
> foundational literature that can be used to (gently) challenge a view I keep
> encountering in certain circles lately - namely, that technology in general
> and the Internet in particular is "ideologically neutral".
> 
> Such a view was around in the U.S. in the early days of the Internet - but
> countered in at least two ways; those who took up Social Construction of
> Technology and related theory from ST studies, including discussion of
> "affordances", etc. - and then the very ideological claims (roughly:
> California libertarian technological utopianism) that went from claims such
> as "the internet interprets censorship as damage, and routes around it" to
> claims that the Internet embedded and fostered specially U.S. (neoliberal)
> values of individualism, freedom of expression, and free market capitalism.
> 
> For better and for worse, however, my impression is that in our communities,
> at least, the recognition that the technologies embed and foster specific
> cultural values and communicative preferences (as I like to put it on the
> basis of the CATaC conferences) has been more or less a given for quite some
> time.  Hence, having to re-visit and re-establish these understandings for
> those for whom this recognition is apparently quite new is a bit of a
> challenge.
> 
> Any suggestions for literature, etc., would be most appreciated.
> 
> Many thanks in advance,
> - charles ess