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Automation and the future of work: A social shaping of technology approach
Author(s) -
Howcroft Debra,
Taylor Phil
Publication year - 2023
Publication title -
new technology, work and employment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.889
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1468-005X
pISSN - 0268-1072
DOI - 10.1111/ntwe.12240
Subject(s) - technological determinism , framing (construction) , mainstream , speculation , politics , sociology , determinism , automation , work (physics) , social science , engineering ethics , positive economics , epistemology , management science , political science , engineering , economics , law , mechanical engineering , macroeconomics , philosophy , structural engineering
Recent years have seen enormous attention paid to automation and its potential implications for the future of work. This study rejects unhelpful speculation and, instead, poses the question ‘what is shaping automation and its predicted effects?’ In contrast to the technological determinism framing much of the current debate, this study utilises the social shaping of technology (SST) approach, a theoretically informed body of research largely overlooked by sociology of work scholars. Compared with mainstream commentary, which treats technology as separate from the social world, SST facilitates examination of how the development and use of technology are shaped by broader socioeconomic concerns and politics. The analysis presented is based on an understanding of how technology is shaped by existing technology, economics, social relations, gender and the state.