Rethinking the Social Construction of Technology Through 'Following the Actors': A Reappraisal of Technological Frames (original) (raw)
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developed by Callon, Latour, Law and others, followed the strategies and actions of central actors -system-builders or heterogeneous engineers -as they attempt to marshal the resources necessary for the project, particularly by enrolling other actors -locking them into appropriate roles -and appropriating the right to speak for them. A technology was conceived as an emerging and increasingly stabilised network of material and non-material elements. The nature of the project and the identities and interests of the actors involved are transformed as the network takes shape. ANT also developed useful analyses of the means by
2002
This paper reviews the growing body of research that explores 'the social shaping of technology' (SST)-how the design and implementation of technology are pattemed by a range of 'social' and 'economic' factors as well as narrowly 'technical' considerations. It shows how researchers from a range of disciplinary backgrounds were brought together by a critique of traditional conceptions of technology (for example, 'linear models' of innovation that privileged technological supply or restricted the scope of social inquiry into technology to assessing its ' impacts'). Though their analytical frameworks differ to a greater or lesser extent in terminology and approach, some explanatory concepts have emerged, and constitute an effective model of the innovation process. Here, it is suggested, SST offers a deeper understanding and also potentially broadens the technology policy agenda. These claims are assessed through a review of recent research into specific instances of social shaping, particularly in relation to information technology. Finally the article discusses some of the intellectual dilemmas in the field. Though the intellectual cross-fertilisation has been creative, points of tension and divergence between its constituent strands have resulted in some sharp controversies, which reflect upon the theoretical and policy claims of SST.