Social Shaping Theory as a Derivative of Technological Determinism

Scholarly Essay from the year 2010 in the subject Sociology - Economy and Industry, grade: A, , language: English, abstract: Technological determinism or TD can be described as a reductionist framework that can be used to explore the interrelations between humans and scientific technologies. However, several scholars like Dosi (1982) preferred to develop a broader perspective on technological determinism on the basis of more intricate analysis of technology change and innovation management. According to the scholars like Mackenzie and Wajcman (1999), a major drawback of technological determinism is its rigidity which is resulted by the deterministic nature of this theory. Such an approach, as advocated by its early proponents like Thorstein Veblen, restricts is suppleness to explain the complex attributes of different social processes especially in relationship with innovation management (Tilman 2004).