Technology is everywhere, yet a theory of technology and its social dimension remains to be fully developed. Building on the influential book The Social Construction of Technological Systems, this volume carries forward the project of creating a theory of technological development and implementation that is strongly grounded in both sociology and history. The 12 essays address the central question of how technologies become stabilized, how they attain a final form and use that is generally accepted. The essays are tied together by a general introduction, part introductions, and a theoretical conclusion.The first part of the book examines and criticizes the idea that technologies have common life cycles; three case studies cover the history of a successful but never produced British jet fighter, the manipulation of patents by a French R&D company to gain a market foothold, and the managed development of high-intensity fluorescent lighting to serve the interests of electricity suppliers as well as the producing company.The second part looks at broader interactions shaping technology and its social context: the question of who was to define "steel," the determination of what constitutes radioactive waste and its proper disposal, and the social construction of motion pictures as exemplified by Thomas Edison's successful development of the medium and its commercial failure.The last part offers theoretical studies suggesting alternative approaches to sociotechnologies; two studies argue for a strong sociotechnology in which artifact and social context are viewed as a single seamless web, while the third looks at the ways in which a social program is a technology.Wiebe E. Bijker is Associate Professor at the University of Limburg, The Netherlands. John Law is Professor in Sociology at the University of Keele, Staffordshire, England.
Shaping Technology / Building Society
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John Law is Professor in Sociology at the University of Keele, Staffordshire, England.
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First Sentence:
On Monday, October 16, 1989, two of the contributors to this volume were driving along Interstate 880 through Oakland, California. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
General Electric, United States, Sanitary Engineering Branch, Ministry of Defence, English Electric, Nela Park, Division of Reactor Development, Hygrade Sylvania, Lane Wells, Ministry of Supply, New York, Bessemer Association, Petit Bertrand, John Law, Bruno Latour, Henry Bessemer, Conrad Schlumberger, General Election, Lighting Sales Committee, William Kelly, Iden Wickings, Ivory Coast, Madeleine Akrich, National Academy of Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
On Monday, October 16, 1989, two of the contributors to this volume were driving along Interstate 880 through Oakland, California. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
General Electric, United States, Sanitary Engineering Branch, Ministry of Defence, English Electric, Nela Park, Division of Reactor Development, Hygrade Sylvania, Lane Wells, Ministry of Supply, New York, Bessemer Association, Petit Bertrand, John Law, Bruno Latour, Henry Bessemer, Conrad Schlumberger, General Election, Lighting Sales Committee, William Kelly, Iden Wickings, Ivory Coast, Madeleine Akrich, National Academy of Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100
books:
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- The American Movie Industry: The Business of Motion Pictures by Professor Gorham Kindem PhD in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- Natural Order: Historical Studies of Scientific Culture (SAGE Focus Editions) by B. Barnes in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Social Studies (Steck-Vaughn Ged) by Steck-Vaughn Company in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Social Studies: If You're Trying to Get Better Grades and Higher Test Scores, You've Gotta Have This Book! by Imogene Forte in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Confronting Nature: The Sociology of Solar-Neutrino Detection (Sociology of the Sciences - Monographs) by T. Pinch in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
See all 100 books this book cites
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