The Politics of Technology- Response to Winner

I found this particular set of readings really interesting. I think the comparison made by Langdon Winner in the article “Do Artifacts have Politics?” is really quite interesting. I often find myself thinking about the incredibly wide array of technologies that are a prominent part of our society today and the affects that they have on me and my everyday life. I find myself often thinking about these technologies but I never would have thought about them in the manner that Winner does. The comparison between Technologies and Politics is really fascinating to me and introduces a concept with a lot of support that I never would have acknowledged on my own.

Winner’s article addresses the theory of technological politics. This theory addresses momentum, response and transformation of technology and humanity. This theory looks at and derives its concepts by paying close attention to characteristics of technical objects and what they mean. I feel that the most relevant characteristics that Winner addresses are the intended and unintended technological consequences. I feel that when it comes to technologies intended consequences are things are those that are presented in the “Politics” chapter by Slack and Wise like efficiency, decentralization, revolution, nature, risk and values. An unintended consequence would be the side effects and potential hazards that come along with a particular technology that were not foreseen.

I found the most interesting example of this to be presented in Winner’s article. This is the discussion of nuclear technology and the possibility of resorting to plutonium for power since uranium is a limited resource and is running out. The intended consequences of using plutonium would be the new capabilities to recycle the waste from using uranium and continue to produce a clean form of energy. The unintended consequence would be the necessary security measures that would have to be taken to make sure the plutonium didn’t end up in the wrong hands.

This is just one of the examples that Winner gives that supports that fact that technical artifacts have politics. There are quite a few in the article and the concluding statement really drives home the point for me when Winner says, “In our times people are willing to make drastic changes in the way they live to accommodate technological innovation while at the same time resisting similar kinds of change justified on political grounds”  (Winner. 11.). This really rang true for me, and it is a bold statement but one that see confirmation of everyday in my life.