Pfaffenberger 1992 Review

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A u. v thr p l 1992 21 491-516h b w h

SOCIAL ANTHRO OLOGY OFTECHNOLOGY

B an Pfa enberger

Division o Hum n ies, Schoo o Engineering nd Applied Sc ence, Un er ity oVirginia Ch o e e, Virginia 22901

KYWORDS: m a m

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w h u r ar r h c cu ura c x . I ai h w i hcha r h a r ica u y ch y a r a cu ur

a y r a c ack a r ay ca y a r h way a h a a y y ay c ra r

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x r a c j c ura r u u n ar cha r a hr y " w rk r ak by a a r

c c h ay a h c a ac c a cu ra c x Ma i w ki r c c d ur ych ca h a a rial cu r h a a

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Annu.Rev.Anthropol.1992.21:491-516.D

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49 P F ERGER

wa and i ti per eived a d y even inte e tua y a d and bo ng" 9 wa re e a ed o u eu where u o on a wi h deve opmen in o iaan opo ogy and dep ived o e no raph e pe ien e mu eu ho a

acked he reso rces o ad a ce he e d. or hei , c ra a o o o-gis s a g ed ha s dyi g ech iq es a d i ac s co d o y de ec a hropo ogi om thei p oper o e that i om t dying u ture Kroeber &K uckhohn or e amp e, di mi ed the ematerial culture ou o handarg ing ha ha i u ure i heide behind the a i ac " 55 :65 . Ac ord-ing y," Kroeber argued, e may orge abou his dis i c io be ee ma e- ia a d o ma eria cu ure, exce a a i era di ere ce, ha is some imes op a ti a onvenien e to ob e ve" 4 96 or an ropo ogy jetti oning ma-

e a u ure s udie wa a ne e a y ep in e tab i h ng he ien i ic ba i

t e in e ec ua a pea , and the dis i c i e ubjec a er o he di ip ine.er odic a temp have been made o revive he se ous yl pa ien e.g. 2 ,34, 49 ,5 9 ,65 ,66 ,8 , and88 , i h heir pace quicke ing in he 1980 43, 44,6 ,6 3, 7 , 73, 8 4, 9 , 96 . Yet, guab y no rea re u i ation ha taken p a eowi g ge y o he con in ed i o c ance wi h hich Ang o American a

opo ogi regard the s udy o ma eria c ure and echno ogy.a recen re a ement o he roeber K u ohn view, Bouque (13:352) conde ns

he recen bids o rein a e he ma e ia i y' o ma e ia u ure," a i uc bid temmed om ome hi i tine on pi a y again t whi h he pre er

r cogni io o he hegemo y o ing is ic a roache o he ob ec or d "No ing ha he excesses o e r y ma e ia c ure cho ars were righ y i o-ried, S i i oe amen ha the mud seem o have s ck more o ar i ac a d

eir udy than o he [evo ioni '] wi d gue theo e ," which havet em e ve enjoyed a mode omeba k 9 p 6 A it and a topi withwhich an h opo ogy wa o ce c o e y ide i ied he cross cu ra s dy o te no ogy and ma e ia u ure ha been arge y aken up by ho a working i o her ie d s ch a he his ory o ech o o y and he i erdiscip inary

e d o a scie ce a d ech o ogy s d e STS or by an ropo ogii h m rgina appointmen in mu e m or in he genera udie divi ion o

engineering and echnica co egeDes i e he er hera s a s o t e a ropo ogy o ech o ogy and ma e-

ria c ure, com e ing ques io s rema : ha is echno ogy? Is ec o ogy ah ma ni ersa ? ha is he re a o sh be ee ec o ogica de e o meand u ura evo u ion? Are there ommon theme in he app op a ion o ar i a t tha b dge apita i and pre api a i t o ietie ? How do peop e em-

oy i ac s o a comp ish socia u o es in he course o eve yday i e

ha k nd o cu ura meaning i embodied in ec no o ica ar i ac ? Howdoes c re i e ce ech o og ca i o a o a d ho doe ech o ogicainnova on in uence cu ture?

The e ques ion are ar rom ivia and arguab y, on y an hro o o y cana er hem No o her disci i e o ers s cie com ara i e de h or a ro-

ria e me hodo ogies The cha e ge s i rema n , a a i o ski h mse u



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SOCIAL ANT OPOLOGY O TECHNOLOGY 493

, o u ders a d he role of e h ology as "a i dispe sable mea s of ap-proa h o e o omi a d so iologi al a ivi ies a d o wha migh be alled

a ive s ie e (69 460) A d he halle ge is eve grea er ow ha s holarge erally o ede ha la guage ool use and so ial behavior evolved i a

ro ess of om lex mu ual i era io a d feedba k Su mi g u he o se -sus of a o fere e led "Tools, La guage, a d ellige e Evolu io

m li a io s Gibso o ludes ha "We eed o k ow more abou he wayi whi h spe ki g, ool usi g, and so iali y are i erwove i o he ex ure oeveryday life i o emporary huma groups (29 263)

I is ha er I argue ha so ial an ropology has a ready dis overed agrea deal abou hum n e nologi al a ivi y s e i lly whe a o ologi

al di gs a e i e pre ed i he o ex of re e , s u i g adva es i

so iology of s ie ifi owledge1 1 he his ory and s iology of e h ol-ogy, a d he emerge eld know as ie e and e nology s udies STS .Colle ively hese elds wi hou mu h a o ologi al i volveme , havdevelo ed a o ep , he t hn l t mo ep (48), ha refuses ode y he l of huma e nologi l a ivi y Develo ed ma ly i so ial

d his ori al s udies of i dus rial s ie es he so io e h i al sys em o seek o show, se ves ui fully o i egra e a hropologi al di gs abou

i dus rial so ie ies i o a ohere i ure of he u iversals of humae h ology a d ma e al ul ure The e ral obje ive of his review, he ,o o vey he socio e ni al sys em o e o n n hro ologi al audie

a d o show how i resolves key o oversies wi hi a ropology heresul s should prove of i eres o a hropologis s work g i elds as diverseas ul ural e ology ual symboli a o ology e h oar haeology ar aology and human evolu io s udies

O e reaso for he ra id adv n e of STS is i s refusal o a e he my hs of s ie e and e h ology a fa e value Mulkay 74), for example, shows haso iology s re sal o develop a so iologi al a alysis of s ie i k owledges ems om so iologis s' u r i al a ep a e of a my S a dard View os ie e.I sugges ha he a hieveme of a rulyc l an ropology of

e h ology l kewise requ res ex e di g a ropology's re e produ ive ve -ure i o re exivi y 8 70) s e ifi lly by m ki g he my hi S a d

View of e ology expli i , a d resolu ely ques io i g i s impl a io s Fohis reaso , his essay begi s wi h he S andard View of e ology, a d

al hough i s purpose is o prese he so io e ni al sys em o ep and exlore i s im li a io s for a ro ology is orga i ed as a ser es of a a ks he impli a io s of he S a d rd View

THE ANDARD VIEW OF TECHNOLOGY

ike he S a d rd View of s ie e (74 19 21), he S a dard View of e h ol-ogy u de l es u s ola ly as well as popul hi ki gA mas er a a iveof moder ul ure, he S a dard View of e h ology ould be eli ed, more or



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494 P F ERGER

le i ta t, o a u dergraduate la O a io all , i i ade e pli it ia t ropologi al writi g e g39 .B ugge ti g t at u a Sta dard iewe t J do ot ea to p at e er olar w o a adva ed o e part

o i ece r l e dor e t e re tw a ollow , del ber tel u e em ul e r u t d r um k d; d t erw e w uld rSta dard View o it ge der ideolog

Necessi y is he mo her of inven ion. As Man has been faced wi h severe surv val challenges, cer a n ex ordina ndiv duals have seen o en in abr llian ash of nspi ion, how o address he cha lenge of Need by apply ng

he f ce , p e al e a d a da ce o Nat e he fa ca o of a d ma e al a ac e p we f a e he e, wa o e e ed,

he ex en ha he nven o can clea away he cobweb f c l e o see he wo ld

om a purely u l aria s andpo n In h s we ee Man' h r fo P es .F m f w c . To e e, Ma dec e o a d ar ac , a ac are d p ed o e e e a e f m w a c ea d are a p e a ac e de f c - a a y need ha was he son d e of he ar ac c ea on. Thus a soc e y sma erial cul ure becomes a physical record of i s cha c eris c survival adap

a on; ma e a cu u e e p ma means by w c c e y e ec ep d c n e mean ng of h man a ac a ace ma e f s yle f s acbu ish or minor mboliza on.

By v ew ng he ma e al record f Man s echnolo cal ach evemen s, one can direc ly perceive he challenges Ma faced n he pas , and how he me hese

halle e . Th ec d w a l ea p e ve t me be a e e hol y c m a ve Eac ew level f pe e a e ec e

on he prev o ne pr d c n eve m re p we l nven n he d gg g ckhad o precede he plough o e n en ons ha s n can ly ncrea e Man s

eac b ng abo revo on c anges n s c al or an a on a d subs encecco d y, e a e f Ma ca e e p e ed e m f ec o ca a e ,

ch a he S o e ge he ge he Bron e ge and o on O age heo ma ge r ugh on by he nven n f e comp e Ove l e

movemen s m ve s mple ols o ve comple machines I was also amovemen r m p m ve ensor mo r s s ( echn ques)g y e abo eem f objec ve, l n s cally e c ded wledge a Na u e and

po en ial echnology .Now we live n a ma er al world. he resul of he explos on of ec nological

knowledge has been a mass ve expans on of Man s reach, bu wi h lamen able a d u vo da le oc al, e v onmen al and cul l c n eque ces: We l ve n a fa ca ed e v me med a ed y ch e ech o y wa mo a he cwhe we ed ool , eca e we c ld c l hem. Mach e c n ,con r l us h s ne can den a Grea Div de or R p ure when Man los his

a hen c y a cu u l c ea ure, s Faus an dep a a be ng v ng n a wo d f c mea , a d ave m e ove o a wo d ed by me a

a d pe c al y Th R p e w he d a evo , wh c a chehe Age f he Mach ne he pr m cy of u c n ver ae he c p h ugh

c e we c ea y ve a h m e w d of c o y d ve dec e e ce c e a become a a e c e w c e ed eof echnology predomina e We can de ne ourse ves only y p rchasi g plas ic



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SOCIAL ANTHROPO OGY OF TECHNOLOGY495

z T b b k

The Standa d V ew of technology appea to be a p lla of Mode m aultural, literary, and art t per od noted for t extreme amb valence toward

te hnolo y. A ordin to mo t chol e .4 ) Modern m reached t apebetween the two Wo d War . In e en e Mode m epre ent a t u le to

nd a table ound of be n w h n t e p om e and pe l of ence andtechnolo ca development L ke S va n Hindu onog aphy, technology

eenthrough the Mode i t len a both creator and de troyer, an agent both of future prom e and of culture de u t on E hoed perfectly n the StandardView of technology, Mode i m amount to

e t a u t e futur t a e ih li t t e re l t ary ae er ati e, e a t a d e la i al. It a the ele t a

e hn l i a a e d a nde ati i ; a e ited a e e e ethat the old regimes culture were ove , and a d ep despa ring in the facethat

e (15:46).

Mode i m an almo unavo dable re on e, a radburyMcFa lane putt, to the ena o of our chao 5 27 .Acc rdingly, any atte pt to gra p

the role of huma technologi a a tivity mu t beg n by ue ion ng the Stand-ard View a umption which could if left unexamined, olor anthropolo i-

cal thou ht

" ECESS T IS THE MOTHER OF I VE TIO

The Standard V ew put forth a common en e v ew of technology and mater al ulture that a cord perfectly with our eve yday under tand ng. All aroundu are artifa t ori inally developed to f ll a pecific need j i er wordproce or vacuu cleaner and telephone and apart from ar ifact that are

de orat ve or ymbol , the mo t u eful a t fact the one that ncrea e our tne or ef ien y n dealing with everyday life are a ociated ea h w th ape f c Ma ter Fun t on, given by the p y ical or te hnolog c propert e of

the ob ect t elf. Extend ng th ommon en e v ew one uickly arr ve at atheory of te hnologi al evolution parodied by4:6 People need water, othey dig we l , dam r ver and tream , and de elop hydrauli te hnology.

hey need helter and defen e, o they uild hou e , fo t , citie , a d milita yma h ne They need to move th ough the env ronment with ea e o they

nvent h p , char ot , chart a a e bi y le automob le , a rp ane a

pa ecraft.e New Ar haeolo y wh h ou ht to put ar haeolo y on a rm mode -i t foo ng, put forward a view of te hnolo y and a tifa t rmly n a ordwith the Standard V ew and it pre umption of need driven te hnolo icalevolut on ulture, a cord ng to B nford7) an extra omat mean of adaptation thu te hnology and material ulture form e primary mean by



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496 F FFE ERGER

which peop e estab ish their viability, given the constraints imposed upoem by heir e i o e t a d he dema ds of socia te atio . fo ows as

Bi fo d a gued 9 5 )that e e y a tifact has two dime s ons he prim r refe ng to the instrumenta dimension re ated to the artifact's functionand the secondary re ated to t e arti act s socia meaning and symbo ism.Ec oi this view Dunne ma es exp icit the connec ion that is assumedbetween an artifact s nction and group surviva : The arti act s nction isthat which "direct y enhances the Darwinian tness of t e popu ations inwhich the occur (23 199).St e i con rast is somet ing added on t esurface a bu ish or decoration that might p ay some usefu ro e in symbo izi g oup so idarity but is decided y secondary In the Mode ist view thereare uni ersa human needs and for each of these here is an idea artifact. For

t e p im ti e tec o ogist discoveri g such an artifact is ke discoveringAme ca t was there be ore the exp orers na ound it-and to the exte tt at an one bothers to ook it wi be ound and i evitab adopted (a t ougit might be resisted for a time) The ta e of Man s ise hen is the sto of increasing techno ogica prowess as digging sticks deve op into p oughsdr ms into te ephones car s into cars.

e tan ar V ew o tec no o o ers a seem n ard or toughminded view o arti acts and tec no o ica evo ution but t ere is amp eevidence hat its "hardness d sso es when exam ned critica y What seems

to us a incon rovertib e eed or which there is an idea r i act may we begene ated by our own cu ture s xatio s. Basa a( 7 1 1)demons ates thispo n o c lly w h sp c o h wh l F suse o c mon a p pos sin t e Near East the w ee took on mi it r app icatio s be ore na ndi g

a spor app catio sMesoamerica he whee was never adopted for ransport func ions gi en the constraints of terrain a d he ack of draught anima s

e i the ea ast where the whee was rst i e ted it was adua yg v nup n avo o cam ls Basallacomme ts "A bias or h w ee edWeste sc o ars to underrate t e ut ity o pack a ima s and overestimate t econtribution made b whee ed vehic es in he years be ore the came rep acedt e whee ( 1).Against a Mode ist bias Basa a s vi w ech s the

ndings o recent so ia ant ropo ogist who have argued t at it is impossib eto identif a c ass of authentic a ti acts that direct and rat ona add ess"rea needs(2 22 72; 8 7).Cu ture not ature de nes necessity. One cou dreassert that a "hard or "tough m ded approach requi es the recognitionafter a hat peop e must eat and so on but it is abu dan y evide t that ahuge ariety o techniques and arti acts can be chosen to accomp ish any give

uti itarian objective(9 1)

The supposed nctions o a ti acts then do not provide a c ear port ait o au an cu ture s needs 38 ) and what is more one ca 0t u ambi uous y

infer om hem precise which cha enges a human popu ation has faced. Thena i es o c i Tie a de Fuego after a were conte t to do wi hout c othi g ccord g y some archaeo ogis s and socia anth opo ogists wou d break

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498 E BERGER

concept, see 68, 8 Accor ng to Hughes, those who seek to evelop newtechnolog es must conce themselves not only w th techn ques an facts;they must also eng neer the soc al, econom c, legal, sc ent f c, an ol t calcon ex of the technology successful technolog c nnovat on occu s onlywhen all the elements of the system, he s al as well as the technolog cal,have been mo e so hat they wor together effect vely ughes 4 showsho Edi on ough o upp elec r c l gh ng a a pr ce compe i e natural gas econom c , to obta n e suppor of ey pol t c ans pol t cal , tocut own the cost of ansm tt ng po e techn cal , an to n a bulb lament of suf c ently h gh res stance sc ent f ca successful soc otechn cal system, such as the elect c l ght ng n ustry foun e by E son, the "web s

eamle he oc al n olu l l n ed h he ec olog cal and

econom c 0 2I sho , soc o ec n cal ys ems are he erogeneous cons ucts that stem om he successful mo cat on of soc al an nonsoc alactors so that they work together ha mon ously-that s, so that they res st

ssoc at on 6 66 l e res st ssolv ng or fa l ng n the face of thsystem's adversa es. One or more soc otechn cal systems may be foun n ag ven human soc e y, each evo ed to a pro uct ve goal.

Exten ng Hughes's concept Law an atour 5 emphas ze heculty of creat ng a system capab e of res st ng ssoc at on system

bu l er s face w th natural an soc al a versa es, each of wh ch must becontrolle and mo f ed f the sys em s to work Some o hem are moreob u a e, an some of em more ma leable, an others. In llus a ng th spo n , a ho ha e oc o echn cal y em concep appl e f u fully

he udy of pre n us r al echnology, n h s case he r se of he Po uguem xe gge vessels n the 4th an ea ly th centu es The real ach evement, argues Law, was not merely the creat on of the m xe r gge vessel,w th ts ncrease ca o ca ac ty an sto m stab l ty qually mpo tant was

hemagnet c compass wh ch allowed a cons stent hea ng the absence of clea s es; e s mpl ca on of th as olab , such a ven sem e ucatemar ners coul e e m ne e r lat ude explora on ha as spec cally n

ended o produce ables of da a aga ns h ch pos on coul be judged andan unders and ng of lan c ade n s, h ch allo ed sh ps o go fo h none season an come back n another To ach eve he necessa y nteg at on of all these factors, the system bu l ers ha to get ma ners, sh p bu l ers, k ngs,merchants, n s, s ls, oo , nstruments, an measurements to wor toge her h rmon ou l The tem he crea e re e d oc a on he able o sa l ou be ond he P llars o ercule o n he coa o r ca and

soon a oun the globe.lthough t s no easy t c to cons ruct a system res stant to ss at on,soc otechn cal systems a e not nev able responses to mmutable constra nts;

hey do no prov e he only way o ge he job done People unfam l ar hechnolog all a el n er a e he egree of la e cho ce openo nova ors as the see o solve echn cal p oblems 4 More commonly,


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SO AL AN HROPO O Y OF HNOLO Y

one sees a range of optio s, each with its tradeoffs, and it is fa f om obviouswhich, f an , is superior. In vi tuall eve technical area, there is substant allat tude for c o ce. For t ce, Lemo er(62 o t to t e e tly

y v o of ec que o e move cro e Ne Gu e l d ; uch v riat o to e fou d, Lemon er ote , even mo g t o e"functional (as opposed to "st listic ) aspects of a tool that are direct

mpl cated i ts ct o upon mate ial(6 : 160 would be wro g to att ibutea tem's " uccess ( .e in resist ng d sociation) to the choice of the "correct tec que r oc l-coord t o et od

B log to the oc ology of c e t c k o ledge(11 t o t c efo mulated as a ri ci e f mmet . n the sociolog of scie tific owledge, th pr c le countered a older sociolog of sc ence that expla ed the

success of a theo b its conform t to the T uth, wh le ascr b ng he fa lure of a ot er t eo to oc f ctor ( a , ue ce, ntere ts, etc) e pr c pleof ymmetry c ll for ec ely t e me k d o oc l e l o e u ed

n ccou t g for the ucce a well a e a ure o t eor or, b exteno , of oc otech c l tem. Accord gly, t ould v ol te t e pr c le of mmetry to rgue th t o e y tem ucceed becau e t u lder cho e t e

"r g t tec que , the o e t t re lly " ork Of re tly ucce ful tem , e c y ly e y e u lder ve re ly ucceeded

r g g to l fe o e out of r ge of po le y tem t at could c eve tgoal (e.g. tr p g w ld g , grow ng r ce, or a l ng down the coa t of

fric ). Suc y tem could be v e ed a d ptatio , l e t culturalecology, but o l y b do ng t e t h c erg r ter h cfallacy of fu ct onal m. t oc otec cal tem develo doe ot mpl t at t the logic l s tem, or the o ly po s ble s tem, that could h v d velopedu der t e c rcum t ce oc l c o ce, t ct c lter t ve tech que , d t e

oc al redef t o of eed d a p r t o all lay role t e r e of ociotechnic l s stems

dd t o l ex m le, out I d tem le rr g t o , ould el to cl rf he socio ech ical tem o cep and s pl cat on .A ma ked c a acter t c of gr culture med ev l out I d e ro l do t o of w tel d to commu t e of r m , w o tur ere e cour ged toorga ze and u erv e g icultur l product o . he did o by ve t ng t el d e l co ructed tem le , w c ov ded locu of m ger lcontrol for the construction, maintena ce, and management of com lex r gat o tem( 2, 67 t ucce full re ted drought d led to maje t cef ore ce ce of out d H du culture. T e eteroge eou qu l ty of

uc y tem mmed tely ev de t. e y tem l ked to co e ve,ucce ful y tem ctor uc k g , c l d gg g tec que , d m , ongwater mode of coord at g la or for r ce product o gr cultur l r tu l ,

de t e , ot o of oc al ra k d aut or ty, concept o of m r t ow ng fromdo o c ce o of c te el o d occu o , co ce t o oc ally d ffere t ated ace, rel g ou ot o of he alutar e ect of tem le


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500 P ERGER

on he fe ility of the ea h, economic elations (land entitlements) ade,temple a chitectu e, and knowledge of ast ological and as ono c cycles(used to coo dinate ag icultu al activities). A human sociotechnical systemlinks a abu ous dive sity o socia and nonsocia acto s into a sea ess web(47)

Any so iotech ica system shows the imp nt o the context om which itose since syste b i e s st aw on e istin socia a cu tu a e

sou ces But it is impo ant to st ess t at eve y sociotechnica system is inp nciple a de novo const uct; to make the system wo k system builde s d aw

om ex sting esou ces but modi them to make them nction within thesystem. In his sense sociotechnical-system building is almost inevitablys

i n 56 Society is t e esu t o sociotechnica -system bui ding. T edistinctive socia o ma on of medieva south ndia, fo instance, is in lmosteve y instance att butab e to the achievement o the sociotechnical system o temp e i at on The syste of temple ration d aws on old ideas of odsk ngs, wate , dams, castes gi s and al the est but it t ansfo ms eve y one of

hese ideas in impo nt ways. In this sense the so iotechnical system conceptis in acco d with e s ct at on eo y o Gid ens(30 Peop e const ctthei social wo d using he socia esou ces and s uctu es at hand but the activities o i y the st ct es even as they a e ep o uced.

A sociotechnica syste , t en, is one o t e chie mea s by which h mansp oduce t ei soc a wo d Yet socio echnic systems a e a l but invisibleth ough the lenses p ovided by Wes e economic political and s cia theo yas Lansing (56 discove ed in his study o Ba inese i gation. F om the standpoint o Weste n theo y igation is o ganized eithe by the despotic st te asWitt oge gued o by autonomous vi lage communities, as anth opologistsa gued in ep y. Invisib e wit n this scou se ansing ound was the Ba inese wate te ple a ey co ponent in a g onal sociotech ical system

evote to the coo ination o i at on a sin iscove ed that t e tes inthese Ba inese wate temp es de ne t e ghts an esponsibilities o subsidi

s nes (and wi h them thesub ks, o oca ice-g owing collectivities, hatine the wate she ) th ough o fe ngs a d ibations of ho y wate . By symboli

ca y e be din each loca oup's quest o wate within t e sup a- ocacompass o te p e t a wate te p es encou age e coope ation necessto ensu e not on y the equitable dist ib tion o wate but a so the e u ated

ow of inundation and fa lowin that p oves vital fo pest cont ol and fe i ityTe lin ly the solida ity that is c eated is not political the kin has obvious

inte ests in p o otin this nd o so id ity but does not active y inte venewith n it. And neithe is this so ida ity pu e y economic it c ossc ts othe enas o econo ic inte ation. A sociotechnica system engende s a distinc

tive o o social so i a ty that is nei he econo c no politica(47) that iswhy it too so lon o hese syste s to be " iscove e by a opo o istsindoc nated with c assica socia theo y.


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SOCIAL AN HROPOLOGY OF ECHNO OGY 501

oc o e hn al sys em have rema ned equ lly nv s ble h ough he ens p ov ded by he and d View of e hnology, which efuses o dea wi h he i ua dimension of e hni a a ivi y A o ding o he and d View and o vi a y eve y a opo ogi a defini ion of e hno ogy a e hni e is ae ective a 2 i ing as opposed o magi o e igion pie makes his ommonsense ass mp ion exp i i in ex ding om " e hno ogy a y

magi o- e igious means by whi h peop e seek o on o na u e 3 u h a v ew fo es lls ny ons de a on o e u l ole ha ua ns p ay in he oo dina ion of abo and e ne wo 's leg ma on 8 a po n ha sho d a eady be app ren om he sou h ndian andBalinese e a p e a eady di ussed Among he Mon agn ds of high dVie nam ag i u u e is no me e ma e of ma e ia u u e and manua

labo n he on y i ual is a key omponen of ag i ul u al wo k; he i e a fo h so ia g o ps o engage in spe i a ivi ies a d hey p ovide a me a ommen y on he en e p du ive p ess o io e hn al sys em may ve y we in de i al omponen s wi h exp i i p od ive goa s ha we f nd false h as enhan ng he fe l y of he e h bu o gno e he s o m ss he c uc l o e hey play n e coo d na on of la o I wou e efo e gue a e so al an h opology of e hnology aga ns all om on sense sho d adop a p in ip e of abso e impa ia i y wi h espe o whe he a given a ivi y "wo ks i e is " e h i l o "doesn wo k i e. is "magi o e igious ; on y if we adop su h imp ia i y do e so ia dimensions of soc o echn l ac v y come o he fo e 8

he labo oo d na on ole of ual s su s ngly widesp ead a d o good eason a wo ks s assing y we o o dina e abo nde ondi ions of s a e essness o lo l au onomy Among he i oa of lowl nd sou hAme ca fo e ample shaman uals employ s e mys l nowledge o ransfe mys cal powe s of fer ili y nd n ease o people who feel hem se ves in need of s h powe s ane o v ews su h uals as n" nt l p t

of the produ tive pr ctice of Piaroa ocie " 3 ane o s emphasisiven hei a ess o wha ane o e ing y al s he "mys i l mea s of ep odu ion sham ns legi ima ely laim e igh o sol nd oo d na ag ul u al labo as well as o gan ze ade 86 Unde s a eless o lo ally au onomous ond ons uals p ov de he deal med um fo he oo d na of labo n a ey vi ual y u e ou d en "yo anno gue wi song i anka en ivi se va s me i o s y e o ded e of he h esh ng oo whi h equi ed e onomi a y signifi an ansa ions o be ond ed wi a supe s i ous s p ousness of de ai and a spe ia v u l y n omp ehens ble language s ual nguage equ ed p pan s o ado an odd sh bbole h as one obse ve e med o hese v

onom nsa ons; he limi ed vo abula y sha p y ons ra ned wha ou d be s d hus no he ey fea u e of so o echn c l sys ems s hesilence e e a ive y insigni a o e p ayed by huma anguage as agains nonve bal ommuni a ion in i a 8 as a oo d na o of e hn c l a ivi ies



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50 PF FFE E GE

Here we see et another reason for the nv s b l t of such s stems w th n thecompass of Weste soc al theor wh h e cess vel pr v leges language over nonverbal cogn t on and behav or

A success l soc otechn cal s stem ach eves a stable ntegrat on of soc aland nonsoc al actors but t s no stat c h ng: Keep ng the network funct on nrequ res constant v g lance and t ma also requ re add t onal techn cal or soc al mod cat on ver soc otechn cal s stem must cope w th what Hughescalls al n ,areas of obd ra or res stan e that prevent the s stem

om e pand ng or threat n t w th d soc at on On reach ng the nd es tPortuguese found that Musl ms had monopol ed the trade w th H ndu pr ncesthe Portuguese response was to work a good deal to make the cannon l ghter and more powerful 6: 27 28).Soc otechn cal s stems also betra a charac-

ter st c l fe c cle 46 as the grow om nvent on small scale nnovat ongrowth and development and a cl ma of ma mum elaborat on and scopefollowed b senescence and deca un l the s stem d sappears or s replacedb a compet ng s stem Such l fe c cle ma be v s ble n the m r ad c cles of

nnovat on growth ef orescence and deca that character e the archaeolog -cal record

The soc otechn cal s stem concept n sum suggests that mere necess t sb no means the mother of nvent on just as product on alone s b no meansthe sole rat onale for the aston sh ng l nkages that occur n soc otechn cals stems cf To be sure soc otechn cal s stem bu lders react to perce vedneeds as the r cult re de nes them But we see n the r act v t es the essen-t all creat ve sp r t hat under es soc ogenes s wh ch s surel mong supreme modes of human cultural e press on Basalla 4 14 puts th s po ntwell: human technolog s a "mater al man festat on of he var ous wa smen and women throughout t me have chosen to de ne and pursue e stenceSeen n th s l ght the h stor of techno og s part of the much broader h storo human asp rat ons nd the plethora o made th ngs re a product o humanm nds replete w th fantas es long ngs wants and des res Basalla's po ntsuggests that no account of technolog can be complete that does not cons der full them an ngof soc otechn cal act v t es and n part cular the nonproduc-t vero es of techn cal act v t es n the ongo ng pragmat c const tut on ofhuman pol t es and subject ve selves Soc otechn cal s stems can be under-stood as I argue n the ne t sect on onl b ac nowledg ng that the producepower and mean ng as well as goods

E MEANING OF AN R FA IS A SURFA E

MA ER OF S Y E

The commonsense Mode sm of the S andard V ew desoc al zes human tech-nolo cal act v y as has ust been r ued b reduc n the creat v t of soc otechn c s ste u ld n to the doc ne of Necess t n prec sel thsame wa the Stand rd V ew desoc al zes the mean ng of technolog cal-


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SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY OF TECHNOLOGY 0

fact by redu ing thi eaning to the artifact alleged function, w th a re idualand econd y role le for the relatively u er cial atter (it i cla ed) f

tyle. To reca ture the ociality of hu an artifact it i nece ary to turn thidi tinction u ide down. I begin therefore by arguing that the u o edly"hard art of he artifact, it function, i n reality the ofte t, the one that i

o t ubject to cultural defini ion.Archaeolog t co only di tingui h function and tyle, a ha a ready

been noted. ut a hank illey argue,

t is i oss e to se arate out sty e and e un t on [ or ins an e] n e t er vesses a e or roje ti e oin or o ogy. ere is no way in w i we an eaningfu y eas re and dete mine w at ro o t on of a ss 's s a e fo ms some uti itar anend e re ainde being assigned to t e do ain o sty e o take a

air-w a ro or ion of t is is un tionao osed to s y is i ? o answer an be given; t e s y e in eres in e un tion and vi e versa. ur er ore as ribing any s e i or s r t y de i ted un ion to an o je t is in any i not a ases an ex re e y dub ous exer iseA air ay e to sit on it no na y u s t is un tion u a rs an so e used or stand ng on or or kno k ng

o le over e ead w t as endu u sler or a os anyt ng e se T s isnot o deny e ana oint t at o je ts ave uses and ay nor a y e used in just one way but i is o sugg st t at su a osi ion re resents a best, a s arting oint ra er t an an end oint or ar aeo ogi a ana ys s(9 :92).

The view of hank& illey are e hoed by Nor an ( 5 9) who callattention to an artifact a dan .An affordance i a erceived ro er y of an tifact that ugge t how it hould e u ed Affordance are n erently

ulti le: Differing erce tion lead to different u e . You can drin water fro a cu to quench thir t but you can al o u e a cu to how you are wellbred, to e ha ize your ta te in choo ing decor, or to hold odel air lane

ar . ut i not uch a oint ju t o uch rained, ecial leading? Everyonenow that chair arep ma lyfor itting in de ite inor variation a o-

ciated wit eci c h torical tyle and ta te , i n t the c a r nction thee e inent atte u h a di tin tion between fun tion nd tyl i o on

en e only to the extent that we ignore a key co onent of technology, ritual.In the receding ection I tre ed ritual ro inent role in coordinating labor in ociotechnical y te . Here, e ha ze the equally ro nent role of ritual in de ning the function of aterial culture.

To illu trate thi oint wi h a convenient and i le exa le draw on thework of K L A e on Victorian hallway furni hing ). A e note that thehallway wa the only ace in the Victorian hou e li ely to be u ed by both

a ter nd ervant Ma ter and v itor o the a ter c a would at rough the hall while ervant and trade en would be a ked to it there andwait. A e call a tention to the contradictory character of the e ar ifact They had to be vi ually a ealing to the a ter cla a they a ed hroughthe hall but if they included eat , they had to be au tere, without u hol tery,and unco fortable, be tt ng the lower ocial tatu of the e enger boy ,


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5 P F ERGER

ook agents, census personnel and so p sellers who were made to wait there.la n and uncomfo le the ench echoed the design of ser ants ishings

which resem led (in the words of a ser ant uoted Ames) he ishings of a pena colony With such constant rem nders of the status the servantswou d have no occasion to compa e t e r status favora ly with that of their master and m st ess. eers and people of highe status Ames notes we eshown past the ench and d rectly into the house. shor the Victor anha lwa is a special space de oted to the enactment of en r r tuals.

s the V cto an ha lw ench s ggests, style nd f nction c nnot edistinguished easil as the S tandard V ew would claim. What appears in anai e analys s to e the supe cia ma er of st le" (the ench au e t )tu s out anks to Ames deeper contextual re ding of h llwa art facts to e

the very nct on" of the ar ifact (to re nd ser ants of the r status)! Note thathe e the nction of th artifact (to e att active to masters and rem nd servantsof the r station) can e known only y comprehending the perce ed socialrole that the a tifact is designed to l ll this pe cei ed social role in can e known only f om contextual n l s that ll explo es the dimensions of V ctor an class sens l t es. I do not e n th t the tness and d sco o t of the Victorian h llw y ench were intended merely re lect" Victorian classsensi il t es When employed n a ritual conte t the ench was o viouslintended to n ru Victo ian stat ses n wa s not o ious outside the ritualcontext. With this analysis in view one can argue that the dimension of ana tifact dent ed y archaeologists istor ans and collectors as style" once formed p of a now lost tual system and for that reason now s ds outoddly and m ste iously against the tifact s supposed function." In shor , thedistinction etween function" and st le" is product of thed n x ual za-

n and d h a n f a a( ee 4 7 for n excellent illus ra-tion of this point).

Daniel M ller s work among south Indian potters(7 ) demonst ates hatart facts play key roles n itual activities that is in providing cuesthat esta lish the cultural signi cance of the events taking place. In a little un-derstood process that is unconscious nd non er al, frames though incon-sp cuous play an mpo tant social le es sh ng e context w t n wh chsoc l act on es on me ng. o M lle t facts e on t e one h ndextremel s le and omnipresent et on the other hand the operate silentland nv si l ( 3 1 9)As man ant ropologists have d scovered people f ndit di cult and po ntless to talk a out the meaning of art f cts: When pressed,inform nts resort to their last ditch tactic Our ancestors did it th s wa "

6 165 .Once again we meet a fam li theme: the silence of human techno-logica activity and its in isi ility within the compass of theor es that assignexcessi e pri lege to speech and w iting.

Mille s o ong so Ind po e s sho s e c ss c lt eleance of my po nt out V cto an hal w f cts n me t the st e"

of an art fact when restored ll o ts cultural context t s out to e its


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"function. But what is even mo e impor ant, M er's work suggests that hisfunction of r ifacts m y inspire artif ct diversity, key fe ture of hum n

technology When m ny ver ion of n rtif ct re v i b e they c n p y

m es n so fe M e on es: Te o o o e n zehe m xpl n f h r n f m h d u d n rd r pr dup d r n (72:201m emph s s) Push ng th s po nt he , one n

rgue th t m jor rat ona e for the crea on of soc ote hn a systems, eyondmere Necess t , s the e abo at on of the mate symbo s th t a e n spens b e fo t e ondu t of eve y ay ife A one can i entify he e othe fo m of

nk ge, s et unexp ore the ink ge between the r tu s th t coordin tebor nd the ritu s h t fr me hum n soci beh vior by emp oying materia

artif cts as cues t seems ike y that s ch nk ges amount to formid b e

app r tus of dom nat on, even unde condit ons of state essness, hus be ingthe m thos of eg t sm n st te ess s e es

If no form of domin tion goes unresisted then one wou d expect rtif cts to be emp o e n e ess e t s t e spe if y es ne to mute ocounter the invidious status imp ica ions of he dominan ritua system. Itherefore see the socia use of ar if cts p r phrasing Rich rd Brown (12 29 ,

s pro ess of nonverb omm ni tion. In his p ocess, e h new t of tu m ng is st tement n n on o n o e of t st tements no nte st tements the ounte st tements, peop e whose s us s verse

a ecte by ritua s try to o t in or modify va ued ar ifacts, in n ttempt to b unt or subvert the dominant ritua s' imp ications. These statements and their s bseq ent un r m nhe p to onst t te so e t ons s p I

e efo e ention tor dr vte h o og t v t es, wh h a e ntep et ve responses to techno o ic dom n ion, to high ight he po t c dimension of techno ogy I c this po ity-bui ding process atechnologi al d ma

A techno ogica d ama (78 82 is a discourse of tec o ogica statements counte st tements n wh h the e e ee e ogn b e pro essesh-

n l l r ul r n hn l l dju m nnd hn l l r nu nA te o og m be ns w h te hno o e t onhis p ocess, a esign const tuency reates appropr tes, or mo if es te hnoogica produ ion process a ifa t user a tivity or system in such a way that

some of its t chnica features mbo y po itic im th t is, n int ntion toa ter the a o ation of powe , prest ge or wea h (57 Because a soc otechn casystem s so ose y em e e n t myt n t ve, e te hno ogp ocesses or o jects th t embo y these a ms ca e s be o ke n m ths of unusu power Ford s assemb y ine fo examp e w s c o ked in the mytht at it was he most ef cient method of ssemb in automobi es a myth

n ee , sin e o we n Swe sh e per ments h ve shown t te mssemb y wo ke empowe ment e ust s ef ent. T e m th maske

po itica im Ford s w the rigid and repetitive work ro es as w y of domestic ting nd contro ing the potenti y ch otic and disr ptive wor orce of Southe and Easte n European immigrants (94 153 . The strati ing ro e of



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06 P A ENBERGER

the V ctor an ha way bench, to c te another example, was cloaked n a myth ofhyg ene, wh ch asc bed ts pla nness to ts unct on n seat ng those who hadrecent y sojou ed n the f lthy s eets )

ke te ts, the technolog cal p oce ses nd t facts generated by technolog cal regula zat on a e subject o mult ple nte ret t ons, n wh ch thedom nat ng d scourse may be challenged tac tly or openly. call such challenges hn l l ju nor hn l l r n u nIn technolog cal adjustment, mpact const tuenc es-the people who lose when a newproduct on process or art fact s nt oduced ngage n s ateg es to compensate the loss of self esteem, soc al prest ge, nd soc al power caused by thetechnology. n th s rocess they ma e use of contrad ct ons, mb gu t es, and

ncons stenc es w h n the hegemonic frame of mean ng as they try to val datehe r act ons hey to control nd alter the d scou se that affects them sonv d ously, and they t y to alter the d scurs vely regulated soc al con exts that

regula at on creates. Pol ce whose ove ents are trac ed by su ve llancesystems, for example, become adep at nd ng br dges and h lls that brea thesurve llance system's trac ng s gnal They can then grab a burger or chat w thanother cop w thout hav n he r loca on lo ed Ad ustment strate es nclude app op at on, n wh ch the mpact const tuency es to ga n access to aprocess or t fact om wh ch t has been e cluded (e.g. ) efore thepersonal computer, computer enthus asts and hobby sts le ed how to hackthe r way n o ma nframe systems as d d t e youthful ll ates (now t e

of M c osoft orpora on), who was repu ed o have hac ed h s way n osyste s w dely thought to be mpregnable technolog cal reconst tut on,

mpact const tuenc es t y to reverse the mpl cat ons of a tech ology through asymbol c nvers on process calln n neconst tut on can lead tothe fabr ca on of countera t facts (e g.51) such as the personal computer or"appropr ate tech ology h ch embody features bel eved to negate or reverse the pol t c l mpl cat ons of t e dom nant sys em.

ollow ng V ctor Tu er ( 1 8 32)I choose the metaphor ofd a a to descr be hese processe A echnolog cal drama s statemen s andcounterstatements draw u on a culture's root arad gms, ts ax oms aboutsoc al l fe; n consequence, technolog cal act v t es br ng entrenched moral

mpe at ves nto prom nence. o create the personal computer, for e ample,was not only to create new p oduct on processes nd ar facts, but also to b ngcompu a onal power o he People, o deal he s abl shment a blow byappropr a ng s m l a y der ved ools, and o es ore he pol cal au onomyof the household v s v s the orporat on ere we see he d ens on odes re that asalla 4 emphas zes: o cons uct a soc otechn l system s notmerely to engage n some creat ve o product ve act v ty. It s to b ng to l fe adeeply des red v s on of soc al l fe, often w th a degree of fervor that can onlybe ermed m llenar an

n any explana on of the mot ations underly ng soc otechn cal sys embu ld ng and a t fact app opr at on the ole of such act v t es n he subject ve


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pro esses of self de nition deser es emphasis22) the rip of what Miller alls the ma s lt re ritiq e, we tend to treat ontemporar a ts of ifa t

appropr ation in apitalist so iet as so tainted, s per ia , and t ite that theo ld not possibl be wor h in estigating. Materialist people, in addition,

a e seen as s perf ial and del ded, and a e nable to omprehend theposition 73 166)Yet, as Miller s esses 73 86 1 8)there are ood o ndsfor arg ing that a ifa ts pla a ke role oss lt rall in the formation of theself: Artifa manip lation and pla , for example, pro ide the on ept algro ndwork for the later a q isition of lan age1 )We lea n earl , ar esMiller 73 2 5)that artifa ts pla ke roles in a pro ess of so ial self reation in wh h artifa ts are dire tl onstit ti e of o r nderstandin of o rsel es and others." In this sense ontemporar so ieties, despite the rise of

the Cons mer C lt re, possess m h n ommon with prei d st al so ieties2 .f. 1 228 ) ifa ts are m ltiplied, elaborated, appropr a ed, and em-

p oyed n am ng act v t es as a form of se f-know edge and se f de n t on, aconten on supported by the d zzy ng and nfathomab e array o spectac arartifa ts now olle tin d st in ethnologi al m se ms. Miller's point leadsdire tl to a onsideration of a third ontention of the Standa d View, thedo tr ne that te hnolo i al e ol tion has pro eeded om simple to omplex,and has depr ed modern Man of his a thenti it .

A UNILINEAR PROGR SSION . . . ROM SIMP OO S O OMPLEX MA HIN S

two ld be idioti to den that ontempora h mans know a reat deal moreabo t te hnolog than did o r prede essors. isto shows m lati e endsin irt all e e f eld of te hnolo i al endea or. B t the so iote hni a s s-tem on ept leads to the eq all ines apable on l sion that an enormo samo nt of h man knowledge abo t b ilding so iote hni al s stems has been

tterl and irretr e abl lost.I a e he e that the extent of this loss an beappre iated onl b nderstandin the hetero eneo s nat re of so iote hni alsystems and by rad ca y q est on ng the Standard V ew's ass mpt on that thee ol ion o techno ogyma be des ribed as the shift om ool to Ma hineS h an anal sis will aise eq all radi al q estions abo t he Standa dView's notion of R pt re.

n a preind str al so iet , people do not often talk abo t the te hni al

know edge t ey possess. st d n wea ers in Ghana, for instan e, Goodwas s rpr sed b he nsignif antro e o q e tioning and an e ing in thetea hing of apprenti es(33 Altho gh highl elaborate s stems of ethnobo

an a lassif ation ma pla ero e in s bsisten e s stems n enormo samo nt of te hnolo i al knowled e is lea ed, stored, and ansmitted bexperiential le ing, is a spatial thinkin , and analogi al reasonin . Blo h



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desc bes the nonlinguistic le ing that takes place a form of eing very incompletely nderstood in the cogni ive sciences:

Imagine a Malagasy shifting cultivato with a f i ly cle , yet supple ment l model

rhaps we ould say a s ript stored in long-term memory of what a 'goodswi e is ke; a that th s modelis p ly visual p ly alyti al (though n tnecess r ly in a sentential logic l way) p rtly wel ed to a ser es o pro e uresabout what you should do to m e nd maint n a swidden This Ma agasy is going

ro gh the ores wi a ien who sa s to im Loo o er ere at at bit oorest hat would m e a good swi den. What happens then is t at a ter a rapid

conceptualization o the bit of forest the mo el o the good swidden is mentallymatched with the conceptualized rea of forest and then a new but related model

this p rticul r pla e as a potential swidden is established nd stored in long-termmemory

Bloch a gues that the ling istically de ived theo y of h man cognition isinsuf cient beca se it ca not acco nt for the speed with which we pe ormdai y tasks such as identifying a 'good swidden ca ot account as Millernotes for our abi ity to absorb lmost instant y the soci l implications of a ished inte or "consistin o a combination which is not on yalmost certainly in some deg ee u q e but some of whose basic elementsmay also be new to us. As we se technology for practical a d social puposes then we draw on a nonverbal form of h man cognition whose capabili

ties clea ly fo m an eno mous, but heretofore little recognized, component ofo r species everyday ntelligence e po tion of technical knowledge thatpeople can verbali e represents only the tip of he iceber

The notion that technolo y is ap lied science-that it represents the practica se of logically fo mu ated ling istically encoded k owledge is ve ymisleadin . A sociotechnical system s much better desc ibed as ans s m,a oma n o os ve goa or ente act on n wh ch now e ge anbehavior a e reciprocally constituted by social, individual nd mate ial phe

nomena As Janet and Cha les Kel er have emphasized a d asB och s examp e so te lingly i l st ates an activity system constant y uxesbetween being and becom ng Action has an emergent qua ity which res ltsfrom the contin al feedback om e te al events to inte a representations

nd om t e inte a representation ac to enactment rucia to hisprocess is a equa ly e b e cycl n amon a te at ve co n t ve odesinc uding v sual/spatia th nk n and n istic/c ass cato y thinking53)Visua /spatial thi king is widespread in all tech o ogical activity systems,including today s igh techno ogy. But visua /spatia think

ing is s ent ompetent producers a d users rarely mention it. This kind ofknow ed e s lost somet mes e ievably in the wake of tec no o ca p ogress Recreation of a system that has been lost is vi al y impossib e Wehave no idea how some preind st a ifacts were made et l ne e ective activity syste s were so s ccessf ly coord nated nder pre nd s aconditions


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SO L HROPOLO OF H OLO

en one v ews a soc otechn cal system as a complex heterogeneous l nage of now edge, ritual, art facts, techniques, and act v ty, t s apparent thatmuch more t an v sua /spat al knowledge about m nufactu e can e lost whena s stem ss ates. A um n soc otec n ca s stem nvo ves e c r nat on of a mass ve comp e network; n e c se of Po uguese nav e p ns on th s networ cons sted of such ent t es as ngs and queens, h ps, crews,w nds, cannons, maps, sa ls, astrolabes Musl ms, and gold V ewed as anact v t s stem, a soc otechn c l system must nclude all he conceptual, v sua , e pe ent a , ct e, n ntu t ve know e ge necess to mo fy t ese

verse e ements so at ey work toget er a mon ous y Even n e most"p m t ve soc otechn c systems, suc as t ose of contempor y unters anga herers l v ng n m g na env onments (e g61) he scope of know edge

nte a on nvolved s p enomenal T e comple ty of any human soc otecn cal system s bel ed by e s mp c ty of ts too s(32)A um soc otec n ca s stems, w et er p m t ve or pre n us a ,

are enormously complex and n erently heterogeneous Throug recogn t onof t s fact one c n beg n a c t ue of e not on of Rupture at gures sop o e t n t e Stan ew ccor n to e St v ew, too use sau h n i an fosters au onomy; one owns n con o s one's own tools nd

sn't dependent on or e p o te by o hers When we use mac nes, n contrast,we must wor at rhythms not of our own ma ng, and we become ensna ed n

he supra oca re at ons necessary for e r product on, st but on, and ma ntenance To e e tent t at we become epen ent on mac nes we o not own,

he sta e s set for e plo tat on We become vorce om nat re, n ourconcept ons of t e wo ld become pa holog cal, through a process calle r -

a on(a m lady frequently asserted to occur only n n us ial soc et es)ccord ng to the doct ne of Rupture, re ca on occurs because we emp o

objects as a means of know n ourselves W en t ese ob ects e no onger ourown au hent c pro ucts, as s t e case w n ust a pro uce facts, oura ent on s ef ecte f om c t c se f-aw eness to t e ncomp ete un erstood Ot e who generates the art fact 44

The concept of soc otechn cal systems enables us to see to w at egree thedoctr ne of Rupture overstates the conse uences of t e t ans t on from Tool toMac ne A oug one wou be fool s to deny he s n c nt conse uencesof e mac ne' s se, pre n us s otec n c s stems were emse vescomp e n e p o t ve fr uent more so t n t e Stan ew acknowledges pre n ust al s otechn cal system un es mater al, r ual, and soc al resources n a compre ens ve s rategy for soc etal reproduct on In he

cou se of p c pa on n suc a s stem, m n f not most nd v u ls nemse ves p a n epen ent n e p o te es B no me ns s re cat onres cte to n us a tec no og As Lans ng notes for Ba ,

Water temples establish connections tween productive g oups and t e components of the natural landscape that they seek to control. e natu al wo ldsu ounding each village is not a wilde e s but an engineered landscape of rice



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510 A E ERGER

e a e ga den aq ed ea edby e oo d na ed a o ofenera onsAnth opomo ph de t es evoke e d ahuman presen e n en neered

d ape Ea er s e g n f gat on system, a ohy a a d o a o o en T e n e of he de y of he ie evoke he

o e ive ia e en e a he ei , w e e f ee- owing ive wa e e ome on o ed ga on wa e(56:128)

It would a ear t en t at reindust al sociotec nical s ste s ave ucin o on wit toda ' s a ne- ased te nologi a s ste s Bot rel extensivel on nonver al cognition ot s ow enor ous co lex t and ela orat on and ot see to generate reif ed not ons rat er an "au entself-awareness. Moreover t e ond tions of eedo in reindustrial societ esare falsel re resented focusing on t e allegedl non ons aining nature of

tool as o posed to ac ine use n sociotec nical s ste ancient or ode ri itive or industr alized ste s o t e e orts of s ste uilders w oatte t to reate a network a a le of resisting d sso iat on s reviouslargued t e use of ritual to coordinate roductive activit in reindus ialsociotec nical s ste s a ounts to a for of do ination and control evenunder stateless ond t ons One an su est n fa t at ot ode dev esand reindustr al s ste s of ritual oord nation re ac ines as Latour

7 1 9 de nes t e ter " a h ne as t e na e l es s rst of a l aac ination a strat ge a ind of cunning w ere orrowed forces ee one

anot er in c ec so t at none can l a rt fro t e grou atour refers ereto t e le at a nes la n un tin e onst tuent ele ents of eso ote n al s ste s Ma nes tie t e asse led for es to one anot er n asustaina le networ (see 1034 for tell ng dis ussions of t e diesel engine t e Koda ca era and t e tele one To rgue t us is not to den t att e se of t e ac ine as roug t a out i o t t if as et in o letelunderstood alterations in u an so io e nical act vit is to s ess t at t eStandard View w ts d vis on o uman stor nto e ge o e l andt e e of he Ma ne su st nt all overstates e oliti a and su je tive

li ations of e r se of a nes ( 0 1 4W at ca t e so iotec nical s ste s con e t tell us a out anot er ind of

ru ture t e kind roduced w en a ode ndus rial tec nolo or art fa t sado ted a "traditional s iet ? A variant of t e tandard V ew erfecex ressed in t e l e Gods ust e Craz alleges t at t e wor d widedis ution of industr al a t fa ts will inevita l tear out t e founda ons of

aut ent ad t onal ultures and aw all t e eoples in e wo ld w t n eg p of onsu er ideolog pli it in s v ew is a stron vers on of te no

lo i al deter nis t e do t ne t at e ause t ere is onl one wa to ake oruse a aterial rtifact eve culture at ado ts it will e forced to develo t esa e s ial a d la or relations ecause social infor ation is so c udelen oded n artifa ts owever t s ex re ely unl ely t at a ansfer ed ar fa t

eed n n w e deol al e a d ed Forexa le He dige (41 s ows ow otor s ooters were deli eratel developed


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SOCIAL AN HRO OLOGY O TEC NOLOGY

n Ita t s gn he fem n ne as se t e mascul ne m b e hem t was c ve e an qu et, he cu ves we e s f an he sha es un e , ans n n B ta n n the1 s h weve , he m t sc te was a te bM s, male an female, f wh m t s gn f e a Eu ean ( s f ") mage asaga nst the R c e s wh a iate the m t c cle t s gn f an Ame can( ha ") mage

hus the ec ent" (a iat ng) cultu e can e nte et the t ansfe ea t acta t ees t. N less sh ul be ex ecte f e le n s calle t a -t nal s c et es " Acc ng t the s c techn cal s stems m el, n suchth ng as a t a t nal s c et " ex sts Eve y human s c et s a w l n h

cess f bec m ng, n wh ch e le a e engage n the act ve techn l g calelab at n, a at n, an m ca n f a facts as the means f c m

ng t n w themselves an f c nat ng lab t susta n the l ves Newes u ces e unl el t be gn e f the can be w ven nt an e s ng new act v t s stem An a t fact's ete nat ve cat n ab n c ntext ma be null e f t s a te t fulf ll an essent all ex ess vefunct n, as s the case f man sh w ece" n us al nstalla ns n hW c unt es

n a ecent m tant essa , ch n el9 has st esse that the a t n f facts e n t necess l m l the a t n f e s stem f l g c thauce the techn l g chan el llus ates this nt b scuss ng the his-

t f Ma a at n f n a factsthe st hase, the Magn ethe a t facts, see ng l tle n value n them fte s me ex e menta

t n, the Ma f un that h es an s a es c ul be w e nt the n ge-n us s stem f ag cultu e u e n bse ve s we e sh c e tf n that theMa b un he h es t sh t han les an use th s m lement m thesquatt ng s t n he fav ite m lement f leve ng u the g un e-ma ne the gg ng st c he Ma late m e the gg ng t c baff x ng t a sh t ece f st a ght n9 chan e c nc u es that

the cess a ng an a a t ng nt uce techn l g es nm l that n uce techn l g es n t lea t change, but the change s n te a ne b the techn l g a a te . . he cess f techn l g cal

a a tati n s ne whe e the nt uce techn l g s a te the s c acesses f he a t ng s c et , an n t v ce ve sa"9 9 9 .hat sa the a at n f m e techn l g whethe f uct ve

s mb l c u ses ma b ng w th t what Pelt calls e l cal zat n " theeve s ble g wth f e en ence n n nl cal s u ces f ene g7 1

As Pe t s s u f the sn wm b le n La lan suggests, e l cal at n mae an the ge g a h cal sc e w th n wh ch e le act ve a ate afacts, w th extens ve m l cat ns f s c al an cultu al change w u bew ng, h weve , t t y t e ct the aject y f such change m a t chn c lanal s s f the t ansfe e techn g , as the extens ve l te atu e n he s c al

m act f the G een Rev lut n attests. Acc ng t s me stu es heG een Rev lut n nva abl lea s t echn ec n m c ffe ent at n" an


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1 P A E ERGER

e growth of a pauper class becau e r ch ar ers di propor iona ely beneom e ex ra-local e ou ces (high yielding v r e ies, pesticide , he bicides,nd fe tilizer ) Other studies epor t a Green Revolution echnology does

no necess rily produce socioeconomic differentia ion, so long as coun ervailing cu tom a u e t e quita le e of agricultu al input(3, 20 31). assess g the s i l nd cultural impact of de-localiza ion, however it iimpo to be in m nd at as uming echnologic l de e minism i muchea ier an conduc ing a ll con e a ud in which peop e e hown obe he ac ive approp ator , ra her than he pa ive vic im , of an fe edtechno ogy (79)

Sh rp's famous an lysis of s eel axe mong " tone age Aus rali ns illust ate t e peril of eading too much technological dete ini m into a single

ca e Sharp showed how mi ionarie , by providing one axes o women andyoung men whose s atus had previously been de ned by having o a k baelde s fo t e e tifacts brought down a prec riously legitimated strati cationsystem However ny tatus differentiation sy tem hat depends on sump u ryregulations, r le that deny cer ain ar ifact to ho e deemed low in ta u , ivulnerable o riou adju men ra egieuch r ifac udden becomewide y av ab e; cu ure contac and echno ogy ransfer re by no meansrequired to se uch proces e in motion. The process Sh descr ed is notconstitu ive of echnology rans er per e; a cle r nalogue is t e e sion of he

medieval tocracy' s at s as pea an eed t em elves om ump u ryregula ions and acquired igh s a us r ifac s( 3 13 3

Whe e echno ogica change ha appa en di p ed o ca ed adi ionaocie ie , he vi ain i much mo e i e y o be co onia i m han tec o ogy.

Coloni i m di up indigenou politi a leg nd ua y em nd in doing, may er ously degrade the capacity of loc l system builders to functioneffectively wit n indigenous activity y tem colonial Sr L n a, the libera Br i h gove men was ob e ed wi h he eradica ion of mu iple c aimsto l d w ich were pe ceived to di cour ge investment nd soci l progress

he ega eradication of such cla m de oyed t e a ility of nat ve headmen toad ust holdings o ch nging water pply leve and undermined he radi ionalba i b which abor wa coordina ed for he repair of dam and irriga ionca a Vi age a a d cana fe i o epa a pecun ou vi ag

llowed t ei land to be t ken ove b village boutique owners nd moneylende (79 T is ex mple sugge t tha it i not t n fe ed tec nology, but

a e t e imposition of an al en and hegemonic legal d political ideologyargua ly echnicism but not technology tha effec s di as rou social

change in co onized coun r esis when iotechnic l y tem come into d ect compe ion a is ecase n advanced echnologic l diffusion tha pec acul r disintegration ofindigenou y em can occu The ud en deploymen of a compe ing emma out p he capaci of indi enous stem participant o conceptualize

hei ci cum ance nd ma e t e nece a y ad u tments their mode of de


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SOCIAL ANT ROPOLOGY O TEC NOLOGY 5

p o ing e o ce mate ia and h man no onge wo k Lato58 32)comment

Th hug o a d t a t o Lo a a u t g away o matt how ma y

m t th y tog th au h wo d [th u d ] w u o g toho d ha ha g d y a mu h th aut u wo d S a ay oto com o wh th y do o ow how ce o o d cau e the

ha o th o d ha mod d y o h ay

ON U ION

Again t the Standa d View exagge ated pict e of techno ogica evo tionom imp e too to comp ex machine the ociotechnica em concept

p t fo wa d a nive a conception of h man techno ogica activ t in whichcomp ex socia s ct es nonve ba activit s stems advanced ing isticcomm ca o e a coo a o o a o a va ce a ac ma act e the inkage of phenomena dive se socia and nonsocia acto s and thesocia se of dive e a tifact e a ecogni ed as pa ts of a sing e comp exthat i im taneo adaptive and exp e ive

The ociotech ica tem of the Machine Age do di e om thei p eind s ia p edecesso s b t he St d d View g ssexagge a es hese d e

ences Fo examp e most m e de nit onso techno og a r hat n i ethei p eind t ia p edecesso s mode techno ogica s tems a e tem fothe app ication of cience d awing thei p od ctive powe om objective

ing i tica encoded know edge (e gB t on c o e exa nation we eehe e the in ence of Standa d View m tho og Histo ians of techno og te

s that vi t a none of the techno og es hatt u o u tsociaandscape we e p d ced b theapp at n ; th trar

ence and o ganized objective know edge a e mo e common thesu oftechno og The p incip e of the mod namic fo examp e we e di cove ed

a cienti t o ght to dete ine how device act a wo ed a d what theiope ating p amete s we e2 The o io that mode techno og is e ect beca se it o nded in ob ctiv "t k w dge vio ates the p incip eof s mme advanced e ie in thi es a even a it denig ates the achievement of p e nd t ia ociotechnica tem A Lan ing noteBa ine ewate temp e we e mo e e ective manage of i igation than the a b t dia o G een Revo tion techniq e have been

B ettisoning mate ia c t e st dies int e 20th tu yanth opoog os o e mea s o eve opi ga ho istic m ti discip in y app ach toc t e B ein tating the ia anth opo og of techno og and mate iac t e we a the fo ndation once again fo itf comm nication among

ocia a th opo ogi t ethnoa chaeo ogi t chaeo ogi t and t dent oh ma evo tion Be ide cha enging ce tain m th abo t tec o og atsocia a ropo ogis so ten ta e o g a t I ho th a h to athe eve of s ch inte di cip ina y di co se Fo examp e effo t a e now



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514 P A E ERGER

n e wa to com ehen h man evol t on n te o the co ex n e laamong tools, lang age, an ntell gence 9 . F om he e s ec ve o h sessa , s ch an e o t s m sconce veove v leges ools an lang age an

sg ses the t s gn cant henomena namel , soc otechn cal s stemsan nonve bal cogn t on. To g as the evol t ona s gn cance o h man

echnolog ca ac v ,s gges ha an h o olog s s la as e he m hs o heS an a V ew necess s he mo he o nven on he mean ng a t ac s a s ace ma te o s le, an he h s o o echnolog

n l nea og ess on om tools to mach nes , an v ew h man echnolog calact v t s ng the conce t o the soc otechn cal s stem. Once we o so, we canbeg n to const ct h otheses abo t theu v rs lso h man technolog nve sals ha h ghl gh wha s s nc lyhuman abo ac v es as ve se as

m ng s one ls an la nch ng s ace veh cles

Lite ture Cited

Ames 1978Me g cts lu is i gs i V c o A c e

dis His .9:19 4. Ap d i A.19 In rod ct on com-

od s d po ics o u ITheoci l L e of Thi s Commo i ies

C l r l Perspec ive ed A App dupp C mb dge C m dge Un v

essA twood D 979 W y some of t e poorg ch co o c ch g d obi i

u l Wes e n I .rr hr po!2 :495 514

4 B s , 1988The E ol io of Techolo C b dg C b idg v

ss5 B ud i d J 1975The Mirr r ofProd c

io , slM. ost S ou s T osPr

6 B k Hug s i c T ds 1987Th oci l Co s r c io of T ch ologic l

s ems Ne Direc io s i he ociologd H s of Tech olog C m dge

ss7 Bi o d 1 962 A c olog

iq28 2 7 258 B nford L 9 5 ch eolog c lsys em

cs n hest dy of c tnre p ocessi 1 2 1

9 B och, M 197 ymbo , so g d ce, dthe e t res o r J ociol

5 55 811 Bloc M 991L ng ge t opo o

d cog i sc cM 26 8 98 Blo D. 199 K owledge d oci l Ime Ch c go Univ. Ch c go ess. 2 .

ed.12 B ow R. 987ocie s Tex Ess ys

o Rhe oric, Re o d Re li y.Ch c goU v Chic go ess

3 Bo q e M 99 1 . Ima o a aC i A h opol1 1 56

1 Bo rd e 984 Dis i c io soci l

Cr i o h J d e of T . odo out dg d g u

1 5 B y M. McF eJ 97 Then me nd n ure o mode ism. InModeism d B dbu 1 c pp

9 55 H o dswo guiB uz n ,R. 98 d ch tec e,

en n mo e Res Ph /os Te h o5 87

17 B r e 978 Pop l r C l r i E rlMo e E ope o do T p S

8 Cl ordJ Ma c s G eds. 19 Wri i gC l re: The Poe cs d Poli ics of h

o r phy. B l U C i ess9 Co do s 986 tu t ch o og i

sw dd g icu u Ri e o ie iessi Pr lems Pr spec s,ed I Nou d, S Cede oth, I. d pp 29 7

R C r on P e2 Cow d 1979 i c p s o soci o

g z t o d ge o s gio system H m Or . 8: 5 4

1 D g J 979 ech olog e en opo ogi d p cou s ou ou u

sou ?L'Homme 19 522 Do gl s M. IsherwoodB 979The

World ofGoods New York B s c Books2 Dunne R 9 8 y e d nct on

d t l dic o o m i19

24 V cus J 197o m tiveO x c n the Z po ec cosmos ci64 74 8

25 gusoE S 977 T d's ob t oug n tech o ogy cie ce197 827

2 ores M. 982 c o og c ch ge dt "t c o og . E o HisR 1 7 88

27 o ty A 19 jec s of es re NewYor a b on

28 l , A 1975Me mo phosis of he C sso ri s Lo o At lo r ss


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SO AL AN HRO OLO Y OF HNOLO Y

29. G b on, K 99 . ool , l ng g , d ne l g nc vol on l c onM

26:255 430. G dd ns A. 979.Ce ob ems i o-

ci eo L nd n M cM l n3 Go d n H S L982 c n c

c ng l bor nd nco d b onn h M d g on oj cEco De

C . C e30 753-732 G n J9 S p s n c

c no og o e oo s s CMarkers: Change, Evo ution, and om

exi , d. R Wigh pp. 54 161 anb rr r n n bor g S d

33 Good E 1978. o d h or o on nQuestions and Po iteness e-

ies i oc I e c iod Goodb dg b dg n v P

34 G uldR 968 L v ng rc olog g j o W r lo wesA o o .24:10 22

35 Gr n o 1986 Po r, d o o , nd o o c on n o n o r

c M 2 :657 793 Gr n, K 9 4 e o i ic Eco omy o

A i C e A Ess y o e G eeRe o o . br dg H v rd n vPr

3 Gr c , K 9 2 c n c l c ng n d c on o nco n r r r .Am 1A ic. Eco 54:326 4

38. H l , 1985 h d n c on ov ss lnc on c d ro nor e Geo

g Am A iq5 :2 7 9539 H M9 8 e Rise ofA o o o i-

c eo o l40 H v 989. e Co di io of os

mode i A E i i o e O i i s oC C eOx o c ll

4 .H bd g 981.Ob c g hn coo c clB oc 4:39 56

42. He zman 987 e le b n nd v o ndJ Asi d.

4 79 82643. Hodd r 1 85.Re di e s : C e

A o c e o I e e o Ac eo o y. amb dge amb idgen vPr

4. Ho d , d989 e Meaning ofThings Maleria u ure dSymbo ic

essio London n n H n5 H g 983 Networks ofPower E e

ic io i Wes e ocie y,88 - 9o o n Ho n n v P

4 . H g 987. vo on o rgc no og c See Re 5

8247. H g T 1989. Ame ic Ge esis: A

entu of Inno ation and Te hno ogi aE si sm 8 - 9 o P ng n

48 H g , 99 o d n c d no o - b nEngineer

i s oci E e ise,d HS dov c 2 W ng on l

c d Pr49. H on J H944 c o

c l n d o n ro oloJ Ro .A o o I s74

50. ngold 988. oo nd , nd ch nes an excu si n in he p i s phy f

c nolog ec iq es e C es12 576

5 S9 9 on c o , concoc onnd conc onJ. A o o . oc O o d

10 83 952 K , , K r, 99 a Thinkin d

Ac i wi I o . b n B c n n53 C., , 99 b g ng n n

r u is n nne speec . P esen ed aW nn r Gr n o nd o . RS o 2 R n ng L ng cR v

54. o b r,A L 948 A o o o yor H c r& B c

55 o b r , K c o n, 9 2C eA C i ic Re iew ofCo c s d Defi i

io s. b dg H rv rd n v Pr56. L n ngS. 1991 ies s d o m-

mers Te hno ogies of o e i the Engiee ed sc e o B i.Pr nc on

Pr nc on n v Pr57. L o rB. 1987. cie ce i Ac io How o

o ow cie is s d E ee so ocie . b dg H rv d

n 58 L o r .98 nc o c n

ll o c n on P d S m na on c n log nd S c ang n v o Ed nb g ( n2- 3,

98 )59 L P d1974 Readings in Materia

C eB sbane Queen andn v Ano ol. M

60. L , 1 987 Techn yn e r eneo ng n ng c o Por g

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Documents

Pfaffenberger 1992 Review