Great to hear that you're focusing on this Charles. It's something I've noticed too - general discourse seems to have swung too far the other way now, describing technology as neutral, when in fact, social plug-ins and the very nature of website architecture (just like real-world architecture) influences behaviour, to varying degrees. And is designed with certain ideologies in mind. Neil Postman jumped to my mind - especially 'Amusing Ourselves to Death'. In the most recent reprinting, the 25th anniversary of its publication, his son writes an interesting prologue, comparing 1984 and Brave New World's differing viewpoints, basically re-iterating Postman's claim that Huxley was closer to the truth in his prediction (at least in developed, tech-rich westernised worlds) - that technology would ultimately blend in to everyday living and users would question the underlying mechanics less and less. Thus dumbing down public discourse, homogenising. Jaron Lenier's 'You are not a gadget' is a fun (provocative) read too. Regards, Jeremy. Jeremy Blackman Senior Cybersafety Specialist The Alannah and Madeline Foundation Level 1, 256 Clarendon Street | PO Box 5192 South Melbourne VIC 3205 t. 03 9697 0627 | f. 03 9690 5644 | m. 0438 066 625 w. www.amf.org.au | Follow us on Facebook This email and its attachments are for the sole use of the addressee and may contain information which is confidential and/or legally privileged. This email and its attachments are subject to copyright and should not be partly or wholly reproduced without the consent of the copyright owner. Any unauthorised use of disclosure of this email or its attachments is prohibited. If you receive this email in error, please immediately delete it from your system and notify the sender by return email. Jeremy Blackman Senior Cybersafety Specialist The Alannah and Madeline Foundation Level 1, 256 Clarendon Street | PO Box 5192 South Melbourne VIC 3205 t. 03 9697 0627 | f. 03 9690 5644 | m. 0438 066 625 w. www.amf.org.au | Follow us on Facebook This email and its attachments are for the sole use of the addressee and may contain information which is confidential and/or legally privileged. This email and its attachments are subject to copyright and should not be partly or wholly reproduced without the consent of the copyright owner. Any unauthorised use of disclosure of this email or its attachments is prohibited. If you receive this email in error, please immediately delete it from your system and notify the sender by return email. -----Original Message----- From: air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Janet Sternberg Sent: Friday, 6 July 2012 12:04 AM To: Air list Subject: Re: [Air-L] Technology as ideologically neutral? 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@fordham.edu | janet.sternberg@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
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