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When should workers embrace or resist new technology?
Author(s) -
Edwards Paul,
Ramirez Paulina
Publication year - 2016
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.12067
Subject(s) - technological determinism , determinism , extant taxon , argument (complex analysis) , set (abstract data type) , subject (documents) , epistemology , degree (music) , unintended consequences , emerging technologies , work (physics) , immanence , discontinuity (linguistics) , sociology , positive economics , computer science , engineering , mathematics , economics , philosophy , artificial intelligence , medicine , mechanical engineering , mathematical analysis , physics , evolutionary biology , library science , acoustics , biology , programming language
The question of how workers might respond to new technologies has lurked behind many debates on the subject. It has not been posed directly, in part because of concerns about the determinism of asking about the effects of a technology. A preliminary is to set aside these concerns by showing that effects can be identified without determinism. The main argument is that technologies can be assessed on six dimensions: intended or unintended effects; direct and indirect effects; degree of reconstitution in use; immanence; degree of success and degree of discontinuity with the past. These dimensions can then be used to pose questions about any one technology. Three illustrations suggest how such questions can be posed in concrete conditions. Technologies can be challenged so that alternatives to extant systems of work organisation can be considered.