Do Artifacts Have Politics? Technology & Political Qualities Paper

One controversial theory of technology puts forth the idea that some technical things, or artifacts, have inherently political qualities. As a consequence, any sharing of that artifact between different people would entail a sharing, and perhaps a spreading of those same political qualities or values. But what does this mean?

Put another way: oftentimes, introducing new technologies into different cultures require their people to adapt or change their lifestyles, including the sphere of life we might call the political (that is, how and where they work, how they think, how they live, how they form organizations and institutions, etc.).

For this assignment, consider whether or not some technology (of your choice) possess inherently political qualities. Do research on how that technology has influenced the political behavior of another country’s people outside of the US and Canada, regardless of where that technology was first designed and developed.

In your write up, be sure to:

1. Describe the relevant factual details of the case you will be discussing (i.e., the technology, where it was first developed, how people are using it in another country, etc.).

2. Take a position on whether or not the technology possesses inherently political qualities. Explain.

3. Take a position on whether or not it was ethical to introduce the technology into the country you chose.

4. Give an argument for how you reached your conclusions and defend your position appealing to the theories of technology discussed in class and readings.

Exceptions:

Please do not use GMOs, Uber/Lyft (rideshare services), AirBNB, nuclear power or nuclear weapons, or any form of timekeeping devices as examples in your paper. Furthermore, please restrict your choice of example to the history of the 19th-21st centuries.

Formatting

Standard font, Arial in 12pt, APA, no cover sheets, minimum 750 words; no maximum, 2-3 quotes, please relate at least 1 quote to “Do artifacts have politics” by Langdon Winner.

P.S. How are you my friend? Sorry for the rush assignment! A good source to start it would be the article “Do artifacts have politics?” by Winner. Please let me know if you have any questions! Thank you for the help!