Social Formation of Technological Development

Author: Xiao Feng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-06-01
Features: Structurally, Chapter I is part of the book, providing a concise review of the relationship between technology and society from an academic perspective—a summary of the intellectual background. It reflects the historical and logical progression from technological determinism to social construction of technology, and this shift in perspective also reflects people's more conscious demand to develop technology through social means. It also serves as the theoretical basis for why we cannot approach technological development in isolation from technology itself in the current context. On this basis, the book analyzes what the key focus should be between technology and social development in China today. Chapters II to VII constitute the second part of the book, which specifically examines how society influences and shapes technological development through several major social roles. They analyze how society, from different perspectives and in various stages of technological development, separately and interwovenly shapes and defines the possibilities, direction, speed, scale, structure, and form of technological development. Chapter VIII forms the third part of the book, further analyzing the relationship between technology and society from the perspective of coordinated development. In a certain sense, this book is a "meso-level study" of technology that is both theoretically compatible and practically grounded. It builds upon the theory of social construction of technology and connects to the reality of China's technological development. It is neither purely theoretical speculation nor a safe analysis of the status quo, but rather an exploratory effort at the intermediate level between the two, bridging theoretical research on technology and practical issues of China's technological development. It strives to avoid making theory hollow and the status quo overly literal, aiming to achieve a fusion of academic rigor and practical relevance.