STS 2411 – Lecture 8 – The Social Construction of Technology

- The SCOT (Social Construction of Technology) school has developed an approach to the
general study of technology revolving around the idea of relevant social groups

- Social groups are defined in this theory in terms of shared meaning, members of a group
attach the same meaning to a particular technology

o The example given by Pinch and Kline is that of the high-wheeler bicycle, women
interpreted it as an “unsafe machine”, men as a “macho machine”

o The varying interpretations of the machine allowed the development of what

otherwise would have been considered too dangerous a technology

- Relevant social groups are generally heterogeneous, including both technical

professionals and consumers, and new groups can emerge over time

- Standard approach: which held that technological development was linked to the
intrinsic properties of the technology (the basic design or structure of the technology dictated
how it would be developed)

- In addition, since different social groups bring different meanings to the artifact, the
artifact has “interpretive flexibility”, which implies that different groups can influence the
development path of the technology

- For example, in the case of the high-wheeled bicycle, the tendency of men to think of
the bicycle as a macho machine led to the use of larger wheels to increase speed, thus the
meaning influences the technological design

- However, the interpretive flexibility of technology is not permanent, over time particular
interpretations of the technology can come to dominate

- This process of closure or stabilization of interpretive flexibility happens as particular

development paths solve problems associated with the technology (or decide to ignore the
problems), and certain meanings come to dominate

- Sometimes different technologies emerge from this process (rather than one
interpretation dominating), Pinch and Kline mention jets and propeller planes

- If new problems emerge with a technology, interpretive flexibility can reemerge from a
“closed” development path (for example, pollution from internal combustion cars leading to the
adoption of electric cars)

- Interpretive flexibility also influences the criteria used to determine if a technology

“works”, this impacts testing of the technology and decisions about which technologies to
develop
- For the most part the focus on meaning and interpretation excludes many macrosocial
factors, this has been used as a criticism of the SCOT approach

- This is the case as meaning can transcend group membership, and relevant social groups
tend to be diverse

- Technological determinism is an argument that particular technologies necessitate

certain social, political or economic developments, for example, that cars shape urban design, or
that nuclear reactors lead to a police state

- If technologies experience interpretive flexibility, then the idea of technological

determinism is challenged