Democratizationof Technology

Philosophy of

Science and Technology

• The political aspects of technology.

Landon Winner: Does Artifacts Have Politics?

Robert Moses

• 1888~1980

• Civil Engineer

• Between the 1920s and

1968, he was in charge or

many construction

projects in New York and

Long Island areas.

Moses’ Projects

Highway on Long Island (1950~1960)

John’s Beach State Park in Long Island (1949)

2.75m3.65m

The height of overpasses

on the highways of Long

Island is less than 3 m.

Why Low Bridges?

Beaches of Long Island

“We do not want

some people in

the beaches. . . .”

Robert Moses

19th Century Textile Company in England

Toward Democratic Community:

A. Seek a balance among communitarian/cooperative, individualized, and transcommunity technologies. Avoid technologies that establish authoritarian social relations.

Toward Democratic Work:

B. Seek a diverse array of flexibly schedulable, self-actualizing technological practices. Avoid meaningless, debilitating, or otherwise autonomy-impairing technological practices.

Toward Democratic Politics:

C. Avoid technologies that promote ideologically distorted or impoverished beliefs.

D. Seek technologies that can enable disadvantaged individuals and groups to participate fully in social, economic, and political life. Avoid technologies that support illegitimately hierarchical power relations between groups, organizations, or polities.

To Help Secure Democratic Self-Governance:

E. Keep potentially adverse consequences (e.g., environmental or social harms) within the boundaries of local political jurisdictions.

F. Seek relative local economic self-reliance. Avoid technologies that promote dependency and loss of local autonomy

G. Seek technologies (including an architecture of public space) compatible with globally aware, egalitarian political decentralization and federation.

To Help Perpetuate Democratic Social Structures:

H. Seek ecological sustainability

I. Seek "local" technological flexibility and 'global' technological pluralism.

* Richard E. Sclove, Democracy and Technology, New York: Guilford Press, 1995, p.157.

Provisional Design Criteria for Democratic Technology*

민주적공동체를위하여A. 공동체적/협동적 기술과개인화된기술, 그리고범공동체적(transcommunity) 기술사이의균형을추구하고,

권위적인사회관계를구축하는기술들을피하라.

민주적노동을위하여B. 노동시간을유연하게조정할수있고, 자아실현을가능하게하는다양한기술활동을추구하라. 무의미하거

나, 기술적재능을무화시키거나, 자율성을박탈하는기술적활동을피하라.

민주적정치를위하여C. 이데올로기적으로왜곡되거나저급한믿음을부추기는기술을피하라.

D. 사회적혜택에서소외된개인이나집단을사회적, 경제적, 정치적활동에참여할수있게하는기술을추구하라. 집단이나조직, 정체들사이에정당화되지않는위계적권력관계를부추기는기술을피하라.

민주적자기자기지배(Self-governance)를 확보하기위하여E. 잠재적인부작용들(예를 들어환경적사회적해악들)이지역의정치적관할영역안에있도록하라.

F. 지역의경제적자율성을추구하라. 지역의자율성을잃게하거나다른지역에의의존도를높이는기술을피하라.

G. 범지구적인평등주의적탈집중화와연방에대한의식과양립가능한기술(건축과공공장소를포함하여)을추구하라.

민주적사회구조를유지하기위하여H. 생태적지속가능성을추구하라.

I. 지역적인기술적유연성과범지구적인기술의다양성을추구하라.

* Richard E. Sclove, Democracy and Technology, New York: Guilford Press, 1995, p.157.

민주적기술의잠정적인설계기준*

Unused Nuclear Power plant in Kalkar, Germany

Unused Nuclear Power plant in Kalkar, Germany

As an aftermath of Chernobyl

accident, German government

decided not to use the brand new

nuclear power plant.

Unused Nuclear Power plant in Kalkar, Germany

Yucca Mountain

• Yucca Mountain used to be the provisional storage site for high-level

radio active waste, despite of the opposition by the Nevada people.

• The plan was stopped after they found the site is geologically unstable.

Transmission Tower in Milyang

Transmission Tower in Milyang

Those who suffer from

the transmission of the

power are not those

who use the power.

Cluster Bomb 집속탄 (확산탄)

집속탄

Protesting against a

Korean company that

produces parts of cluster

bomb.