Technological Change

2Technological Change and Society

Technology and society are mutually dependent: technology is shaped by the society it shapes in turn. Let us take just one example, which is emblematic, that of the automobile. Its development was in response to a society aspiring to achieve mobility, with a desire to escape and visit wide open spaces. At the same time, the organization of society was linked to the automobile, which had a great influence on metropolization (cities expanded with the development of the automobile). Without it, hypermarkets, leisure centers and motels would have only limited interest.

It is therefore around the idea of a joint structuring of technology and society, in tune with the chosen anthropotechnical perspective, that this chapter is structured. We will approach technological change from the perspective of a set of societal dimensions:

• – the political and institutional dimension, that of the organization of collective structures and the constituted economic and social forms that govern technology (section 2.1);
• – the ethical dimension, that of the good and the just, and more broadly the values that guide the design, dissemination and use of technologies (section 2.2);
• – the diversity dimension (gender, age, culture, disability, etc.) corresponding to the challenges that technology raises in terms of combating discrimination and respecting and valuing inter-individual differences (section 2.3);
• – the ecological dimension, which requires taking into account ...