Relationship between Technology and Society - Assignment Example

work: Sociology Question one New computer-based information technologies are having differential effects on employment and thequality of work. The groups of workers that are most benefiting from the implementation of these technologies include those in the provision of services sector. These include such professionals who are highly paid as well as skilled and comprise of doctors, financial managers, information/computer analysts as well as consultants. This group, of workers could also be called true knowledge workers who use technology immensely. These workers are most likely to benefit since work in these jobs is mostly being done by means of technology. This is the sector that includes insurance, banking, government, retail trades, education and health services, hotels and restaurants etc all venturing in information as a product. Thus statistics show that at the turn of the century around 45% of the Canadian labour force was mainly involved in the primary sector (comprising of mining, agriculture, forestry, fishing as well as other natural resources extraction ventures) which has declined to below 5% presently. Thus about 16% of the labour force is in the secondary sector (involves production of goods-construction and manufacturing) which has gone down from 30% during after the WWII economic boom of the 50s.This therefore has seen the tertiary sector, according to the way its classified represents around 75% of the entire work force. Thus Bell had suggested through his work that with the rising importance of information/knowledge in post-industrial economies, together with rising access of information via technology and education, social inequality would definitely reduce as the latest professional class would be able to wield a powerful impact within society. Such writers as Daniel Bell (1973) analyzed a change towards an economy that is based on the concept of post-industrial society. Thus Bell’s post-industrial dissertation claims that there is a primary change occurring in the nature of the information-base of technology. He argues that theoretical, formal knowledge is gradually becoming more and more the axis around which latest technology, social stratification as well as economic expansion is organized (Rifkin, 1998).The transfer to a post-industrial economy is typified by the development of an intellectual technology on the basis of information alongside the decreasing significance of machine, industrial based technology. It is this possession of technical knowledge that has formed the foundation of a new class, the professional and technical intelligentsia and it is this information class that would acquire increasing status as well as power (Rifkin, 1998). On the other hand, is the low end which is a very huge increasing base of workers, generally in the traditional services such as accommodation, retail and as well as personal services who occupy insecure, low paying and mostly part-time jobs. This is the group of workers that is most likely to be affected by technological changes. This is because within community, personal services and businesses (these accounted for around 37.1% of all employment in 1995),these workers occupy on average incomes below the poverty level, and their work is most likely to be taken by technology. In the middle of all this is are the declining jobs in traditional and mostly unionized and thus secure as well as well paid blue-collar jobs. The emerging trend is that there is bound to be a dramatic shift in occupational structure and stratification taking place not only in Canada but also other parts of the world. This means therefore that things are changing so rapidly that the economy at present is being controlled by knowledge-based companies. In this concept therefore, the conservative working class as well as bourgeoisie division is covered with an emergent newer class structure whereby power is more diffused. Exuberant writers on this line have claimed that there is a decline in importance of mass production and companies in the business of production of goods have reverted to flexible specialization as a way of producing for extremely specialized as well as changing, markets. Thus flexible specialization makes use of latest computer-based manufacturing technologies so as to enable quick changeover in manufacturing of products, and supporters claim that it requires more extremely responsible and skilled jobs so as the company can uphold dynamic flexibility. This clearly spells doom for the individuals in production sector since technology is rapidly replacing their jobs with automation. Historically, the 30 years after World War II were a time of fast economic growth mostly in Canada with a GDP growing by more than 300%.Most of this growth was witnessed in resource industries as well as manufacturing. Thus as computers together with information technology developed in complexity, making it possible for the emergence of new regions of economic activity as well as occupations. This made established corporations take advantage of this, and there was a great momentum not only for restructuring of manufacturing businesses but also the big bureaucracies in both the private and public spheres. For instance, the resource and automobile industry in Canada have turned out to be extremely advanced technologically. However in terms of employment, these companies and several others started reducing their labor forces, comprising of production employees and middle-managers, office and supervisory workers. Decrease in manufacturing actually started in the beginning of 50s, when growth in service sector was underway. Between 1951 to 95,there was a decline in manufacturing jobs from 26.5% to 15.2%,whereas business, community as well as personal services rose from 18% to 37.1%-a clear indication that jobs in manufacturing and related sectors are the ones that technology to be negatively impacted. Those in the information-services economy at least are bound to survive for a longer time since their services are the most sought after. Question 3 It has been suggested that computer aided communication technologies, particularly the interne/web, represent a significant departure from our traditional forms of media and communication such as newspapers, television, etc This is so because computer-mediated kinds of communications such as the internet seem to offer the potential of changing from these one-way communication characteristic of mass communication. Thus many writers optimistically view the development of computer mediated communication, specifically the World Wide Web and the internet as a technological transformation similar in cultural significance to the invention of writing some 2,700 years ago. This therefore means that availability of interactive networks possibly unite the various forms of communication separated by past technologies: speech, audiovisual and text. Castel claims that the possibility of integrating images, text as well as sound within the same system, interacting from numerous points, and in real/delayed time along a worldwide network, in conditions of that are affordable and open, does primarily alter the nature of communication. This therefore means that the web, then, in this observation does symbolize a dramatic departure from our traditional media. Since the World Wide Web is structural wise a web; both by design as well as evolution, it is naturally non-linear and thus is open in the threads of the web. This therefore implies that communication does flow through numerous routes. This system that is highly decentralized is also non-hierarchical, principle wise. In the web, there is no central sender which makes control of the flows of information (type of information, provider/sender of the information as well as the receiver of the information, etc) much harder than the traditional media. A slogan that goes; you can find everything on the web’ holds true. The initial design of internet was done with the intention of generating a particular type of information flow; the momentum behind the use as well as the initial occupation of the internet vividly demonstrated a cultural stamp of openness as far as technology was concerned. Whereas, there were big military interests in the design logic of the internet (ARP A net), the initial first wave, and culture of the medium were clearly mostly shaped by interests such as those of the hacking as well as the academic research community. Thus such groups were characterized by a motivating desire in seeing a highly democratic, open system of communication being developed on the internet. Internet, therefore, distinct the mainstream, was not centrally dominated, not constrained in regard to form and content, and was not controlled by commercialized markets or domineering social and political ideologies. In terms of culture, internet brings together different modes of cultural communication. Thus the digital world built by technology, in capturing audiovisual and text expression, may be the basis for an entirely new symbolic atmosphere in a virtual world of communication as well as reality. Turkle and Castells claim that all reality is at some point virtual in that it is constructed or perceived via our cultural symbols. The new media which is symbolized by the internet as well as the World Wide Web comes up with fascinating and exciting cultural issues for the purposes of exploration since they symbolize a system in which it is feasible for people’s symbolic and material existence to be captured or completely immersed in a setting that is virtual. Through the internet, we are able to enter the world of cyberspace, that comprises of; chat rooms, online games and virtual worlds where instead of staring ourselves in a mirror, we are able to step via the mirror, exploring and experiencing the concept of cultural identity in a whole new way. Several writers in this aspect, such as Shirley Turkle, claimed that cyberspace was increasingly developing centrally in identity and culture construction, however her broader claim being the world’s shift to more generally a culture of simulation. We may thus be gradually becoming more and more a society in which mediated, electronic communication is the principal type of communication, whereas face-to-face communication is relegated to being sub-cultural. Turkle further suggests that as we increasingly become intertwined with communication technology that is computer mediated as well as with each other through technology, old distinctions between what is particularly technological and particularly human becomes more intricate . Politically and socially, access to technology is extremely uneven within countries as well as globally. It is evidently clear that internet usage, for instance, while increasing, remains in several instances, mostly male, white as well as economically advantaged activity. Global wise, internet diffusion is quite heavy in such countries as Canada, parts of Australia and Europe as well as the U.S. Elsewhere, however, there is frequently no internet access or when available, only to little groups of elites. Thus some regions of the world have got high penetration whereas others have got small penetration. In regions where computer mediated communication is prevalent, stratification is likely to be witnessed amongst users. There are some countries that have tried blocking internet usage because of political reasons, but citizens have always found ways of communicating with one another as well as protesting. An example of such a country is Egypt. This inequality in accessing and using internet is not a minor issue and as several analysts have noted; the internet has an increasingly significant influence on political, social as well as economic spheres. Section B Question 4 In thinking about social outcomes and the idea of social progress, many people would label themselves as technological optimists, others as technological pessimists. A third view is that neither position is the appropriate way to think about the technology-society relationship. Technology as we know it, has got some bad and good effects, however if this can be better controlled; then some of the negative consequences can be stopped or eliminated altogether. Thus there have been major technological developments in medicine and economy that are beyond the control of groups and even governments. If we therefore thought of the future of technology from this stand we are made to think that as if technology was a vehicle and the driver and we are the passengers. If at all we are optimistic, then, our expectation would be that the driver will be a pleasant one. However we are pessimistic then we will be on the lookout for an accident at every curve. Overall therefore, it s not wise to be anti-technology. The only thing that is most sensible to do is maybe to be anti-certain technological forms or technologies, uses, systems, uses as well as outcomes .Whereas our current technologies provide any number of beneficial effects, the current dominant technological systems are mostly linked to social stratification, power and inequality, but in an ideal world, our technological systems would mostly be decentralized as well as locally controllable. There are instances where we may even argue about just jumping out of the car; however technology cannot be separated from our society and culture. Thus it is important that we change our reasoning and move toward one of the key lines of argument in this course; that we ought to pay attention to the manner in which technological systems wield effects on social relations, change and institutions as well as understanding at the same time the social processes and choices at work in not only development but also usage of technologies. This is something that therefore induces us to constantly think about technology in social context. Technology has meanwhile brought a lot of good changes to mankind and for most researchers; important economic changes started occurring in the 80s as companies started to adjust themselves to economic times that were uncertain.Thus in this concept, the old system which Braveman and others were categorizing was diminishing as the requirement to be flexible in the case of uncertainty started to dominate the strategies of various corporations. Thus firms need to be ready for any eventuality, and that is why it is very important for strategic mangers world over to keep abreast with the latest technologies. The threat of uncertainty therefore has caused most corporations to be more adaptive so as to not only respond to changes in cost, new markets but also technologies so as to remain competitive. This has definitely led to the adoption of the latest technologies to aid in facilitating extremely specialized production such as computer based production methods that can be easily changed so as to meet the needs of increasingly expert markets. This means therefore that the resultant effect, according to this perspective will be that workers will need to be exceptionally skilled and well incorporated into the firm. Thus technology in this instance can contribute to more gratifying, not more isolating, work. Another advantage of new technology together with work organization within a factory or an office can symbolize a break with the past of work intensification and managerial control. As human beings therefore, we ought to ask ourselves what really the meaning of progress is and whether we are ready for it. Thus if progress means improvement of the majority of people both culturally, politically as well as materially, then as humanity, we ought to make reasonable choices not just regarding what technologies we require and what we want to do as well as be done by it, but also bear in mind its very social structure. The social structure usually is the social context which leads to the specific development as well as use of technologies .Thus by the virtue that our technologies are usually drawn in negatively restricting the social context we need to concurrently question our technological developments. In summary therefore we can confidently say that a relationship exists between technology and society and can be captured in 3 main models. These are; Mutual shaping-which claims that society and technology shape each other .Thus technologies generally are social products and can have social consequences such as what took place in Egypt. Thus technology can really have a major impact on the political destiny of a country and therefore can be termed as a major weapon as far as shaping of a society is concerned. Secondly, technology and society can further be described by social construction-thus social process and social actors determine the path of technological development, and technologies usually have got interpretive dynamism; which means technologies can mean various things to various people and at different times. This is best described by New York bridges which were made lower so as to restrict use of the roads by poor African Americans. Lastly technologies impacts society in that it technological development pursues a natural trajectory, forcing people to adapt to the given technology such as the online shopping revolution. Read More