Transcript Winners and Losers: The Differential Effects of Technological Change

Winners and Losers: The
Differential Effects of
Technological Change
Technology as a Subversive Force
Volti Chapter 2
Technology Myths
Technology can function w/out altering existing social arrangements
Technological solutions better than (less painful) social or political solutions
"Technological change can be a subversive process that results in the
modification or destruction of established social roles, relationships and
values.“
Some change is small
Some change is massive
Economy distinctly affected by Technological change:
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Destruction of obsolete firms: Pony Express ->Telegraph wires->
Telephone
Typesetting vs. Computers
Internet Phone vs. Telephone
Concern over Technology has always been present:
"Railroads, if they succeed , will give an unnatural impetus to society,
destroy all the relations that exist between man and man, overthrow all
mercantile regulations, and create, at the peril of life, all sorts of confusion
and distress."
Effects of Technological Change
Yir Yoront:
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Australian aboriginals (Paleolithic people)
Greatest Technology was Stone Axe
Stone axe—simple axe but involved many materials
Axe tied to gender identity—only men possessed axe.
Introduction of steel axe by missionaries- men, women & children got
axe
Men lost distinct identity, culture began to disintegrate
Demise of Yir Yoront not only tied to axe, BUT axe is a good symbol for
the new world and technology imposing itself on traditional aboriginal
peoples
Caliente, Nevada:
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Small town supported by single industry: steam locomotives
Onset of diesel-electric locomotive
Once thriving community vanished within a few years.
Same true for countless "blue-highway" towns following the
construction of the Interstate Highway System.
Groups can and do defend themselves
against technological change:
China:
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Silk industry: (pre 1850’s) manually unwound silkworm cocoons.
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Jardine Matheson trading company (Britain) seeks to use steam powered
machinery to reel silk.
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Although faster, not successful because of opposition from Silk Makers Guild.
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Haitian Duty Free Shop
The Luddites
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England- Ned Ludlum stocking maker who smashed stocking frames. (Taliban?)
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Luddites- different groups who smashed machines, but began in hosiery trade.
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Hosiery trade- wanted to use wider frames to make more hosiery for less money.
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Allowed for use of less skilled (cheaper) labor. Workers objected.
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Also - bad harvest led to increase in food costs. Workers pay wasn’t meeting
their basic needs - Rebellion.
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Fear of unemployment because of technological change, not intrinsic fear of
machinery.
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Machinery was target for aggression.
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Worker Protest eventually took more peaceful forms - e.g. unions were
established.
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Luddite anyone opposed to modern technology and its extensions.
Recent opposition to the use of computers and their potential to replace human labor
can be seen as a form of Neo-Luddism
Technology does not succeed or fail on its intrinsic
merit – social, political, economic factors play a role:
Some technology succeeds because of
particular group interest: Atomic Power
Some technology fails because of particular
group interest: AIDS research in early 1980s
Technology costs money - LOTs of money Technology sponsored by corporations and
government thus, disproportionately
representing these groups.
What Technology Can and Cannot Do
Why is there such a gulf between social
progress and technological progress?
"If we can put a man on the moon, why
can’t we…?"
The Technological Fix
Technology used to attempt solution for
many problems.
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Heroin addiction - development of
Methadone.
Car Accidents - seat belt and air bags.
Grafitti on public property - stronger chemicals
to resist paint.
YET, none of these technological solutions
address underlying social factors
Why Can’t Technology Fix It?
Social problems are fundamentally different from technological
problems.
Goals for technology usually clear and unambiguous - how do you
assemble a car.
Goals for society anything but clear - many different ways to "solve
poverty."
Social problems- causes are manifold, human motivation key factor.
Technological solutions work best in closed system - no outside
factors to interfere.
When problem cannot be easily isolated - technological solution less
likely to be effective.
BESIDES, No problem, technological or otherwise is ever really
solved.
"Solution" to one problem creates new problems. Haitian Bakery –
Leon eBus
Artificial hearts help sustain life BUT:
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expensive
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aging population needs care
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issues of morality
The Appeal of Technocracy
Despite limitations, groups (Technocrats) still attempt to
make social problems into technological ones.
Scientific Management Theory (Early 20th Century).
Frederick Taylor - Metallurgical engineer.
Time and motion study - how many motions should it
take to complete a job?
Managers determine amount of motions needed and
workers follow unreservedly.
Workers benefit because they don’t waste time managers benefit from higher yields. Luton GM Plant…
Workers paid piecemeal, not wages - since workers are
efficient they’ll earn more.
Taylor - extend this theory everywhere, homes as well as
workplaces.
Lenin (Russia) - Taylor admirer.
Work and Monopoly Capitalism
The Technocrat’s Delusion
Once again, technical problems are not the same as
social problems. Even if Scientific Management Theory
was ideal, workers upon whom it was imposed resisted
its use:
(Hawthorne Experiment and "Human Relations"
approach. Basic Fallacy of Technocracy - administration
can replace politics.
"Neither technology nor administration can supply the
values that form the basis of [our] choices. They cannot
tell us what we should do with our lives, nor can they
help us to resolve the fundamental issue that all
societies confront: how to distribute fairly life’s
necessities and luxuries."
Questions
1. Can you think of some established industries that have been
undermined by technological advance? What industries
might be threatened in the future?
2. Were the Luddites justified in their attacks on machinery?
What about modern day Luddites?
3. What examples of technological fixes can you give? Are they
successful? How can we judge success in this context?
4. What is a technocrat? What role would or do they have in
modern political systems?