Seven Concepts in the Structure of Contemporary Technology
In his essay "Artifacts/Ideas and Political Culture," Langdon Winner (87) identifies seven concepts that are present in the structure of contemporary technology-the centralization of power, few talking and many listening, barriers between social classes, a hierarchically structured world, unequal distribution of good things, differing competencies between women and men, and the openness of one's life to "continual inspection." As Winner (85) points out, "Many of the things we like to think of as mere tools or instruments now function as virtual members of our society," and this has certainly been the case with new technologies. He associates the artifact of a technological tool with related ideas and shows how they work in tandem to become part of the political culture. For Winner, a cell phone is not just a handy means of communication; it is an artifact embedded in our culture that correlates with mainstream ideas and forms an indelible part of the culture.
The first concept, the centralization of power, is one that goes against the democratic values that many governments seemingly espouse (Winner 87). Centralization of power assumes that power will be concentrated within the heads of state or other authorities and taken away from the people, even though people are going to be the users of the technology. Winner (88) demands representation for all of the people that might be affected by a technology before the innovation takes place, and he urges that if the present social institutions cannot accommodate this, they must be changed.
The second concept-that few talk and many listen-reflects the centralization of power and the political landscape. When few talk and many listen, this often means that the few who talk are given special privileges to talk and be heard, while those that listen are only allowed to listen; they are not allowed to...