Masthead CMC Magazine / February 1, 1996
  Shaping and Being Shaped, by Daniel Chandler

A Definition of Technological Determinism

The term "technological determinism" was coined long ago by the American sociologist and economist Thorstein Veblen. ^

Nowadays, the term is used to refer to the common assumption that new technologies are the primary cause of:

  • major social and historical changes at the macrosocial level of social structure and processes; and/or

  • subtle but profound social and psychological influences at the microsocial level of the regular use of particular kinds of tools.

Commentators on technological determinism occupy roughly --four standpoints.

^ (I'd be glad to hear from anyone who knows exactly where in his writings this term first appears).


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