POL 507 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: The Information Society, Manuel Castells, Trevor Pinch

• School: Ryerson University
• Department: Politics and Public Administration
• Course: POL 507
• Professor: Robert Marshall

Document Summary

Pas(cid:272)al: te(cid:272)h(cid:374)olog(cid:455) is (cid:374)ot good or (cid:271)ad (cid:271)ut it"s effe(cid:272)ts are (cid:374)ot (cid:374)eutral. Technology is seen as a source of power: Two types of power: power to, and power over. Power itself can be seen as fluid, constantly changing. Many theories exist on defining technology, and its interaction with society. Influential people in the debate about theories on information society: Manuel castells: technology is (cid:374)ot good or (cid:271)ad, (cid:271)ut it"s effe(cid:272)ts are (cid:374)ot (cid:374)eutral. Introduced the power to and power over concept: wrote (cid:271)ook: (cid:862)the net(cid:449)ork o(cid:272)iet(cid:455). (cid:863, technology is embedded within power and power relations. Marshall mcluhan: (cid:862)we shape our tools a(cid:374)d our tools shape us. (cid:863, technology has both intended and unintended consequences, wrote book: the goldenberg galaxy. Uggests i(cid:374) the (cid:271)ook (cid:862)the (cid:373)edia(cid:374) is the (cid:373)essage(cid:863). George grant: argues that technology is a fundamental part of human nature, technological determinism, made te(cid:272)h(cid:374)olog(cid:455) so(cid:373)e(cid:449)hat (cid:862)religious(cid:863), e(cid:454) te(cid:272)h(cid:374)olog(cid:455) as fate, society creates and shapes technology.