Sociology 2755
Technology & Society
2004/05
Tuesdays 6:30 - 9:30, BB 1021
Dr. Rachel Ariss RB 2043
Email: rachel.ariss@lakeheadu.ca Phone: 343-8792
Office Hours: Mon: 1:00 to 2:00; Tues: 1:00 - 2:00
Course Description: This course considers the relationships between technology and society from
several perspectives: historical, cultural, environmental and feminist. We will draw out theoretical and
social consideration by examining specific technologies.
Course Structure:
Lectures and small group discussion. Read before class so you have a basic
idea of what I am talking about. Lectures, readings and videos are examinable materials.
Required Texts:
Students must purchase the custom course pack, Technology & Society 2755,
available in the bookstore. There are also several articles on reserve in the library, which are marked in
the course outline.
Evaluation:
Short Answer Quiz:
Short Essay:
Exam:
25% - February 8
25% - Due April 1st (4 pages)
50% - see exam schedule when available
Weekly Reading Schedule:
1. January 4 - Introduction
2. January 11 - Thinking About Technology
a. Leo Marx, “Does Improved Technology Mean Progress?” in Albert H. Teich, ed.
Technology and the Future 9th ed. (Thomson Wadsworth, 2003) pp. 3 - 12 ON RESERVE
b. Robert Pool, “How Society Shapes Technology” in Albert H. Teich, ed. Technology and the
Future 9th ed. (Thomson Wadsworth, 2003) pp. 13 - 22 ON RESERVE
c. Eileen B. Leonard, “The Social Construction of Technology” in her Women, Technology
and the Myth of Progress (Prentice Hall, 2003) pp. 13 - 26 ON RESERVE
d. Langdon Winner, “Artifacts/Ideas and Political Culture” in Morton E. Winston and Ralph D.
Edelbach, eds., Society, Ethics and Technology 2nd ed. (Thomson Wadsworth, 2003) pp.
94- 100. ON RESERVE
Study Questions: What are the optimistic and pessimistic approaches to technology? How
does a social constructionist approach to technology work? What roles do facts and values play
in thinking about technology? What roles do social and political power play in shaping
technology?
3. January 18 - Work and Technology I - Building Cars - Video
a. Wayne Lewchuck and David Robertson, “Listening to Workers: The Reorganization of
Work in the Canadian Motor Vehicle Industry” in Christopher Schenck and Johan
Anderson, eds. Re-Shaping Work 2: Labour, the Workplace and Technological Change
(Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and Garamond Press, 1999) pp. 83- 109 BOOK
ON RESERVE
b. Excerpts form Ben Hamper, Rivethead: Tales from the Assembly Line (New York: Warner
Books, 1991 234 pp.) pp. 1,2, 30-36, 38-40, 105-108.
Study Questions: What is “lean production” and what is its relationship to “Fordism”? How
does Rivethead’s author respond to Fordist production methods?
4. January 25 - Work and Technology II - Telephone
a. Michele Martin, “The Making of the Perfect Operator” in her “Hello, Central?”: Gender ,
Technology and Culture in the Formation of Telephone Systems (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s
University Press, 1991 219 pp.) pp. 50 - 81.
Study Questions: What was the role of gender in the making of the perfect operator? Can you
think of other technologies where the social construction of gender, class or race has
influenced their use?
5. February 1 - Work and Technology III - Workplace Surveillance
a. Susan Bryant, “Electronic Surveillance in the Workplace” (1995) 20 Canadian Journal of
Communications pp. 1-11.
b. James B. Rule, “High Tech Workplace Surveillance: What’s Really New?” in David Lyon
and Elia Zureik, eds. Computers, Surveillance & Privacy (Minneapolis: University of
Minnestoa Press, 1996, 285 p.) pp. 66-76.
Study Questions: Are there differences between traditional worker surveillance and high tech
worker surveillance? What kind of behaviour does each type of surveillance expect from
workers? From bosses? What kind of behaviour is each type of surveillance trying to prevent in
workers and bosses?
6. February 8 - Work and Technology IV - Cable Trades and Globalization - TEST
a. John Anderson, “Going Down the Road: The Political Economy of the Information Highway”
in Christopher Schenck and Johan Anderson, eds. Re-Shaping Work 2: Labour, the
Workplace and Technological Change (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and
Garamond Press, 1999) pp. 47 - 82 BOOK ON RESERVE
b. United Nations, “Globalization and its Impact on the Full Enjoyment of All Human Rights” in
Morton E. Winston and Ralph D. Edelbach, eds., Society, Ethics and Technology 2nd ed.
(Thomson Wadsworth, 2003) pp. 193 - 205.
Study Questions: How does the removal of work through technology affect workers and
communities? How might workers respond? Does economic change affect human rights? How
do you think trade negotiations affected by technological development?
Reading Break
7. February 22 - Robots - Video
a. Issac Asimov, “The Bicentennial Man” in his Robot Visions (New York: ROC, New
American Library, Penguin Group, 1991, 482 pp.) pp. 245-290.
b. Stelarc, “Towards A Compliant Coupling: Pneumatic Projects, 1998 -2001” in Joanna
Zylinska, ed. The Cyborg Experiments: the extensions of the body in the media age
(London and New York: Continuum Press, 2002, 239 pp.) pp. 73 -78
c. Joanna Zylinska and Gary Hall, “Probings: An Interview with Stelarc” in Joanna Zylinska,
ed. The Cyborg Experiments: the extensions of the body in the media age (London and
New York: Continuum Press, 2002, 239 pp.) pp. 114 - 130.
Study Questions: What are the differences and similarities between Stelarc’s understandings
of human bodies and Andrew’s (main character in Asimov’s short story) understanding of
human bodies? How does technology interact with the idea of humanity in Stelarc’s art and in
Asimov’s story?
8. March 1 - Medical Technology I - Genetic Testing and Screening
a. Alice Ruth Wexler, “Chorea/graphing Chorea: The Dancing Body of Huntington’s Disease”
in Paul E. Brodwin, ed. Biotechnology and Culture: Bodies, Anxieties, Ethics (Bloomington,
Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2000 296 pp.) pp. 193-208
b. Ann-Marie Codori and Jason Brandt, “Psychological Costs and Benefits of Predictive
Testing for Huntington’s Disease” (1994) American Journal of Medical Genetics 54: 174184. ON RESERVE
Study Questions: Explain the two perspectives offered by these authors on genetic testing for
hereditary, late-onset disease. What knowledge about this issue would you be missing if you
only read one of these articles?
9. March 8 - Medical Technology II - Redefining Death and Organ Donation
a. Margaret Lock, “On Dying Twice: Culture, Technology and the Determination of Death” in
Margaret Lock, Alan Young and Alberto Cambrosio, eds. Living and Working with the New
Medical Technologies: Intersections of Inquiry (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2000, 295 pp.) pp. 233-262.
Study Questions: What insights does cultural comparison provide for use of specific
technologies? Why was the acceptance of the definition of brain death so easy in western
cultures?
10. March 15 - Ethics of Design and Appropriate Technologies
To Be Announced
11. March 22 - Controlling Technology - Removing Lead from Gasoline - Video
a. David Collingridge, The Social Control of Technology (London: St. Martin’s Press, 1980:
200 pp.) pp. 13-21 and 47-61.
Study Questions: What is the key to controlling technology in Collingridge’s view? How does
this relate to the optimistic, pessimistic and social constructionist views of technology? Does
Collingridge take the “technological imperative” into account?
12. March 29 - Review