SOCI 325 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Technological Determinism, Genetic Testing, X-Ray
11 Apr 2020
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2:50 pm: technology and the standardization of bodies. Technological determinism (td) is the idea that technological change drives social change. Td is fundamental to many marxist analyses in which material conditions shape class relations. Td relies on the idea that technologies embody certain essential features (a positivist or realist stance) All technology is subject to interpretive flexibility. The use and inherent meaning of a technology depends on the relevant social group(s) that use the technology. The "best" solution depends on social/cultural context of the relevant social group. Can cause conflict over the "appropriate" use of a technology. E. g. , genetic testing on race and identity. Technology is tied to how we fundamentally understand our selves and our bodies. The "meaning" of body hair and its relationship with race and gender is inextricable from the technologies for the alteration, removal, and technologies for the alteration, removal, and measurement of body hair.
