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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
- Sprache: Englisch
The definition of power varies across disciplines. Social scientists tend to deal with social power, philosophers of technology with the relation between technology and society, and ecologists with the relation between natural and social power. Concepts of power and technology are freely used but this relationship is complex and multifaceted.
In this analytic and ambitious textbook, Jan van Dijk brings these perspectives together to provide a more comprehensive answer. In attempting to integrate social, technical, and natural power into one framework, he develops a general concept of power which unites all three – the first time such an attempt has been made. The author argues that it is important to look at these concepts together: natural power is not simply a resource for technology and society, and its inclusion is crucial given the ecological impact of technologies. Overall, nine forms of power which comprise the framework are discussed in each chapter – force, construction, coercion, domination, discipline, dependency, information, persuasion, and authority – and at all levels (individuals, organizations, and societies). Van Dijk concludes with some practical implications and asks two key questions: how can automatic and autonomous technology such as AI be controlled by humans? And, how can we find a more sustainable and less exploitive technology?
Power and Technology contains many figures, tables and illustrations and is suitable for students and scholars of technology studies and the sociology, philosophy and history of technology.
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Seitenzahl: 496
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024
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CONTENTS
Cover
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
1 Introduction
Natural, technical and social power
A framework of power
The theory of power in the natural, technical and social world
Power at all levels
How to control which technology?
Notes
2 Power
Introduction
Definitions and examples of natural, technical and social power
A full definition of power
A comparison with other concepts of power
Nine appearances of power
Conclusion
Notes
3 Technology
Introduction
Definitions of technology and technics
Man as a tool-using animal?
A critique of instrumentalism
A bird’s-eye view of the history of technology, society and power
Actors in technology
Notes
4 Mediation and Interaction in Natural, Technical and Social Power
Introduction
Views of technology and power
Mediation and interaction
Constraints, affordances, perceptions, constructions, actions/ workings and operations
Specifications in micro-, meso- and macro-power
Notes
5 Micro-power (Individuals)
Introduction: power at the micro-level
The human–machine interface
Case 1: Websites
Case 2: Social media platforms
Case 3: Smart personal devices and mobile apps
Conclusions
Notes
6 Meso-power (Organizations)
Introduction: power at the meso-level
Mutual operation: the mediation and interaction of organization and technology
Direction: management
Monitoring: personal supervision, bureaucracy and infocracy
Adaptation: technological organizational change and resistance
Conclusions
Notes
7 Macro-power (Societies)
Introduction: power at the macro-level
Force: the technological society
Construction: the network society
Coercion: the capitalist society
Domination: the democratic or authoritarian society
Discipline: the surveillance society
Dependency: the unsustainable society
Information: the data and risk society
Persuasion: the media society
Authority: the technocratic society
Conclusions
Notes
8 The Power of Artificial Intelligence
Introduction: a definition, a framework and applications of AI
Mutual operation: cooperation of artificial and human intelligence
Direction: who decides, humans or AI?
Monitoring social or technical systems and human behaviour
Adaptation and resistance in AI
Conclusions
Notes
9 Conclusions and Implications: The Control of Technology
Exploitative or sustainable technology: which technology do we want?
Autonomous technology: can we control technology?
Strategies in controlling technology
Notes
Index
End User License Agreement
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Begin Reading
Index
End User License Agreement
List of Tables
Chapter 2
Table 2.1
The scope and scale of the entities of power in this book
Table 2.2
Nine appearances of power
Table 2.3
The combination of views of power in this book
Chapter 3
Table 3.1
The evolution of technology and society in human history
Chapter 4
Table 4.1
Views of technology and their focus
Table 4.2
The concept of interaction
Table 4.3
Causal effects in mediation realized by interaction
Chapter 5
Table 5.1
Human–machine interfaces: processes, actions and causes
Chapter 6
Table 6.1
Power in twentieth- and twenty-first-century systems of technology and organizati…
Table 6.2
Historical types of regulation and monitoring
Chapter 7
Table 7.1
The characteristics of technique according to Jacques Ellul
Chapter 8
Table 8.1
Components and applications of AI as decision-making
Table 8.2
Human and artificial intelligence compared
Chapter 9
Table 9.1
Phases of technology and strategies of control
List of Figures
Chapter 2
Figure 2.1
Construction of a Panopticon with a central tower and six pentagons overseeing all …
Chapter 3
Figure 3.1
Actors in technology
Chapter 4
Figure 4.1
Mediation and interaction between the natural world, humans and technologies in …
Chapter 5
Figure 5.1
Interfaces between natural, social and technical power
Figure 5.2
A sociotechnical assemblage of human–machine interface relations
Chapter 6
Figure 6.1
Relations of natural, social and technical power in organizations
Figure 6.2
A sociotechnical assemblage of organization and technology relations
Figure 6.3
Structuration model of human action, technology and organization
Figure 6.4
Components of an organization according to Mintzberg
Figure 6.5
Phases of technological organizational change
Chapter 7
Figure 7.1
Relations of natural, social and technical power in societies
Figure 7.2
A sociotechnical assemblage of actors and actants in relations of society and technol…
Figure 7.3
A model of communication and technology use
Chapter 8
Figure 8.1
Conceptual framework of AI applications
Figure 8.2
A sociotechnical assemblage of decision-makers in AI
Figure 8.3
Distribution and estimated level of power or control in AI
Figure 8.4
Seven requirements for trustworthy AI
Chapter 9
Figure 9.1
Formula of technical power (P)
Figure 9.2
Control of social and technical power (PST)
List of Boxes
Chapter 2
Box 2.1
Main meanings of the noun ‘power’ in the Oxford Dictionary
Box 2.2
General definition of power
Box 2.3
Definition of natural power
Box 2.4
Definition of technical power
Box 2.5
Definition of social power
Chapter 3
Box 3.1
A definition of technology
Box 3.2
A definition of technics
Chapter 4
Box 4.1
Definitions of mediation and interaction
Chapter 5
Box 5.1
General definition of micro-power
Chapter 6
Box 6.1
General definition of meso-power
Chapter 7
Box 7.1
General definition of macro-power
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Power and Technology
A Theory of Social, Technical and Natural Power
Jan van Dijk
polity
Copyright © Jan van Dijk 2024
The right of Jan van Dijk to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published in 2024 by Polity Press
Polity Press65 Bridge StreetCambridge CB2 1UR, UK
Polity Press111 River StreetHoboken, NJ 07030, USA
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.
ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-6369-2
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2024931506
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Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent reprint or edition.
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1INTRODUCTION
Natural, technical and social power
What is power? Most people use this word freely without even knowing what it means. Usually, it is something social. However, it might also be light or electricity. For social scientists, it is usually a characteristic of a social relation between people, with one being ‘above’ and another ‘below’. Physicists focus on natural forces such as gravity and energy, such as electricity. Technicians and engineers are talking about the capacity of the hardware or software they are working with. Some scholars are combining two or more types of power. Philosophers of technology deal with the relation between technical and social power, or technology and society. Ecologists deal with the relation between humans or societies and their natural environment. Sometimes they also pay attention to human technology, so clearly touching on nature.
The definition of power I use in this book comes close to that of ecologists. My definition is extremely broad. It is an attempt to develop a general concept of power uniting social, technical and natural power. This is an ambitious plan, never made before. I am a social scientist and all my academic life I have been concerned with the relation between technology and society with a focus on digital media. It would be much easier for me to deal with social and technical power only. Why should I include nature in my discussion about power and technology?
I did this for two reasons. The first is that social scientists and philosophers take nature for granted in studying technology. It is seen as the background, or a reality used or needed for technology. However, nature has its own causes directly affecting both technologies and societies. For instance, nuclear power has different effects on the organization of technology and society than solar power. The second reason is that it must be evident now that our advanced and massive technology has a great ecological impact on nature potentially leading to an uninhabitable earth. In my book I often use strong words like ‘nature strikes back’. We benefit from nature; we are part of it. But the power of nature in our use of technology is increasingly coming back on us.
I am not satisfied with the focus of fellow social scientists, historians and philosophers in their discussions of power and technology. Most of them barely deal with technology. The impressive four volumes in the history of power by Michael Mann, The Sources of Social Power,1 only discuss social power as the title says and scarcely mention technology as a key factor in human history. The ‘radical view’ on power of the oft-cited Steven Lukes2 analyses social power only, with no reference to technology. The philosopher Michel Foucault has a relational concept of power which is close to the one used in this book. Unfortunately, he focuses on public institutions and human bodies and has no interest in technology. Sociologists and philosophers of technology do focus on the relation between social and technical power.3 However, the sociologist Manuel Castells takes natural power for granted in discussing technical power, and, in the relation between social and technical power, he develops an instrumentalist view of technology used by humans and societies in a type of technological determinism.4
My concept of technology in this book is also broad. It is not only about technics and artifacts but also about knowledge, organization and culture, as discussed in chapter 3.
With these concepts in mind, I asked ChatGPT 4 on 23 October 2023: ‘What is the relation between power and technology?’ The answer was erratic, but the first lines made sense: ‘The relationship between power and technology is a complex and multifaceted one. Technology is the practical application of scientific knowledge and the invention and use of devices to improve human performance. Power, on the other hand, is the ability of individuals or groups to shape events.’ Here again, the relation is of technical and social power only.
A framework of power
In chapter 2, I am first looking for a theory of power for the natural, technical and social world. I started with a framework of all the concepts of power I could find. The result was a logical framework of three types and nine appearances of power. The first type is material power with three appearances of power: force, construction and coercion. This type of power belongs to natural, physical/organic and social reality. The second type is physical power working between the bodies of humans and between the bodies of humans and machines. This type focuses on technical and social reality. Its appearances are domination, discipline and dependency. The third type is mental power. Appearances are information, persuasion and authority. This type links social and technical power, though information is also a dimension in the natural world.
This book treats the concept of power as both power over and as power to. In social science, power over other human beings is by far the most used concept. In natural and technical science, usually power to is a capacity of working natural and technical objects.
The theory of power in the natural, technical and social world
A framework is not yet a theory. A theory offers not only understanding but also explanations. In this book I am trying to explain the relations between the natural, technical and social world with two core concepts: mediation and interaction. They are part of a dialectical view of technology as a mediator. The main characteristics are a mutual shaping of technology and society and a focus on tensions, conflicts, opposites and transformations (see chapter 4). The relational view of power between and inside the natural, technical and social world also has a base in physics as in the theory of quantum mechanics. Do not close the book, please! This theory is only discussed in simple and general terms. The intention is to show that reality does not consist of independent entities with fixed attributes but of properties that are only realized with regard to others and only when they interact (see chapter 2). Similarly, power is only realized in practice when all counterpowers and contexts have done their work.
A second core of this theory is the principle of general symmetry proposed by Bruno Latour, John Law and Actor-Network Theory. This principle means that all entities in the natural, technical and social world should be treated equally and described in the same terms. For this reason, I am using here the words actors, actants (artifacts) and working natural entities in the same manner. Of course, their nature is different, but from a power perspective there are similarities too.
Power at all levels
In chapters 5, 6 and 7 this framework and theory will be applied to an overview of power at all social levels. The first is the micro-level of individuals and their use of technology with a spotlight on the human–machine interface. The second is the meso-power in organizations, highlighting the relation between organizations and technologies. The broadest is the macro-level of societies where I will characterize several types of societies focusing on one of the nine appearances of power. For instance, force indicates a technological society. At all levels I will discuss the same analytic categories such as mutual operation (humans and technologies), direction (who or what is in charge), monitoring (surveillance and sousveillance) and adaptation (change and resistance). In chapter 8 the framework and theory will be applied to the main case in this book: the power of artificial intelligence (AI) working at all social levels.
How to control which technology?
In a technological society, technology is everywhere and pervasive in all activities. In the history of technology also sketched in this book, it seems to be steadily more automatic and autonomous. Humans are moving to the margins of working technology until it moves within the human body using embodied technology (chapter 3). How can humans stay in control when, for instance, AI seems to decide what happens, software programs itself and killer robots are launched in warfare? Control is the final result of power. Chapter 9 will end with a list of all the current main strategies to control technology.
However, I will start there with the question: what future technology do we actually want? In an effort to dominate nature, humans have developed an exploitative, destructive, unsafe and wasteful technology, even when it offered us a longer, healthier, more prosperous, comfortable and enjoyable life, at least for half of the world’s population. Is it possible to find an innovative sustainable technology to reach a more symbiotic (living together) power between humans and nature? It seems to be utopia today. Still, this was one of my main motives in writing this book.
Notes
1.
Michael Mann (1986, 1993, 2012, 2012).
The Sources of Social Power
, 4 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
2.
Steven Lukes (1974, 2005).
Power: A Radical View
. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.
3.
For instance: Faridun Sattarov (2019).
Power and Technology: A Philosophical and Ethical Analysis
. New York: Rowman & Littlefield.
4.
Manuel Castells (1996, 1997, 1998).
The Information Age: Economy, Society, Culture
, 3 vols. Oxford: Blackwell. See the review by Jan van Dijk (1999). The One-dimensional Network Society of Manuel Castells.
New Media and Society
, 1(1): 127–38.
