Transcript Gender & ICTs - Brock University

Theorizing Technologies
& ICTs
COMM 2P26:
January 22nd, 2015.
How do we feel about tech?
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Imagine that you are using the computer
and internet and ‘something bad happens’
(ie: blue screen of death, slow internet
connection and so forth).
How do you feel when a technological
device upon which you depend
malfunctions?
What do these feelings tell you about your
attitude towards technology in general?
Why theory?
What is theory?
“A systematic explanation of
relations among constructs, based on
empirical evidence, and is testable
through further research”
(Kerlinger, 1986).
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Theory
What?
 Thinking about the world in a certain way
 Explaining how things came to be the way they
are
Why?
 To predict
 To understand
 To maintain or change
How?
 Idea: a + b = c
 Test idea: through research
Essentialism

Technology is Good or Bad
Technological Determinism
technology develops by its own laws,
that it realizes its own potential,
limited only by the resources
available
 regarded as an autonomous system
controlling and ultimately permeating
all other subsystems of society

Social Determinism
large-scale social structures almost
entirely determine technology, for
example that capitalist society leads
to technology that serves capitalists
 this approach assumes that the only
way to change technologies is to
change the fundamentals of social
structure

Actor Network Theory
Society & technology not oppositional
 ANT Fits in between these two
deterministic frameworks
 Gives people agency they’re –active
 Looks at rel’n between technology
(material) and meaning (semiotic)

Social Construction of
Technology (SCoT)
Technology doesn’t shape people’s
actions, people’s actions shape the
technology
 Need to understand the social context
of technological use/integration
 Interpretative Flexibility: each
technological artifact has different
meanings & interpretations for various
groups

SCoT - Example
Low Bridges - Robert Moses
– New York
 prevented the 12ft high
buses from passing
underneath & hence
prevented those relying
on public transport,
especially blacks & poor
people, from easily
visiting beaches
 Social values (racism) can
be built into artifacts
(bridges)
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focuses on influences
of technology
leaves out the effects
of technology
Look at the ways that
society & technology
co-shape each other –
the relationship
Consider the
implications of this
relationship
Social Shaping of Technology
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the influence of the
social & technological
context of development,
which shapes choices
the relationship between
technology & society is
one of ‘mutual shaping’
Social practices in
various contexts shape
use & integration in
different ways
Social Shaping of Technology
Contexts & Practices
 Work
 Home
 School
 Any/Everywhere
>Mobility
Example: The Landline

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Intended to replace
telegraph & electrical
telegraph – military
roots
Women shape landline
integration in the home
Framed by their
domestic role –
gendered practices
Empowering tool to
overcome isolation
Social Contexts & Practices
Within these
contexts there are
social practices
 These are framed
by social
stratifications:
gender,
race/ethnicity, class
etc

Feminist Analysis
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Gender Studies:
examines the different experiences in
women's and men's lives
includes those which lead to social and
economic inequity for women
applies this understanding to policy
development
is concerned with the underlying causes of
these inequities (here, ICTs)
aims to achieve positive change for
women & men
Just gender?
We also want to think about how
gender relates to other social factors
such as race & ethnicity, class, age,
sexuality and so forth
 We can’t really talk about ‘just
gender’ – they all intersect to create
personal context and experience,
which shape ICT use & integration

Technology as Masculine Culture
Technology itself can be considered
an institution (much like family,
media, workplace, government etc)
 Works with other institutions to
perpetuate gender ideology and
power relations

Implications of Gendered
Ideologies

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Women tend to be less comfortable with
computer & new information technology
Have a limited understanding in the ‘rules
of the game’
In the world of work, the kind of contact
women have with computers tends to
reinforce women's marginalization
(historically & present day)
ICTs can reinforce existing relations of
power – not only between women and
men (and women/women; men/men)–
but also between ethnicities and social
class - in society
Questions
How is technology situated as
‘masculine’ in our society?
 How might society’s perceptions of
technology be raced/classed etc?
 ICTs examples?
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How is technology gendered?
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1. Key specialist actors are predominantly men
2. Gender divisions of labor around technology
3. Technological artifacts gendered
4. Cultural images of technology are strongly
associated with hegemonic masculinity
5. Detail of technical knowledge and practice is
gendered
6. Styles of technical work may be gendered
7. Gender identities of men who work and play
with technologies
(Faulkner 2001)
Turning Cyberspace
into Sacred Space
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Dr. Helland shows some of the most
cutting edge uses of the WWW for
online religious activity, which
includes interactive virtual pilgrimages
and long-distance ritual practices, to
demonstrate this unique manifestation
of the social shaping of technology
http://bit.ly/1J1ANsL
Additional Resources
Digital Religion: Understanding
Religious Practice in New Media
Worlds edited -Heidi Campbell
 The Spirit of the Internet: Speculations
on the Evolution of Global
Consciousness -Lawrence Hagerty
 SimChurch: Being the Church in the
Virtual World -Douglas Estes
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