Technical Mediation and Subjectivation: Tracing and Extending Foucault’s Philosophy of Technology

Dorrestijn, Steven

doi:10.1007/s13347-011-0057-0

Cited by 67 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…In so doing, we will defend a particular conceptualization of power: largely, we follow Michel Foucault's trajectory of the study of power through processes of subjectification, to wit, Btechnologies of power,^which Bdetermine the conduct of individuals and submit them to certain ends or domination, [through] an objectivizing of the subject^ (Foucault 1997a, p. 225), and more precisely, the manner this conceptualization of power has been elaborated by the autonomist Marxists. While generally considered a historian and philosopher of discourse, attention has been drawn to the relevance of Foucault's work on power for philosophy of technology, Discipline and Punish in particular (Dorrestijn 2012;Gerrie 2003;Sawicki 2003;Verbeek 2011).…”

Section: The Power Of Technological Mediationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Technological Mediation and Power: Postphenomenology, Critical Theory, and Autonomist Marxism

et al. 2015

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This article focuses on the power of technological mediation from the point of view of autonomist Marxism (Hardt, Negri, Virno, Berardi, Lazzarrato). The first part of the article discusses the theories developed on technological mediation in postphenomenology (Ihde, Verbeek) and critical theory of technology (Feenberg) with regard to their respective power perspectives and ways of coping with relations of power embedded in technical artifacts and systems. Rather than focusing on the clashes between the hermeneutic postphenomenological approach and the dialectics of critical theory, it is argued that in both the category of resistance amidst power-relations is at least similar in one regard: resistance to the power of technology is conceptualized as a reactive force. The second part of the article reads technological mediation through the lens of the antagonistic power-perspective on class struggle developed in autonomist Marxism. The outline of a provisional autonomist philosophy of technology is developed using Foucauldian dispositifs of biopower in contrast to the hermeneutic and dialectical approach. It is thus argued that resistance should here be understood in terms of practice that subverts the technically mediated circuit of production itself.

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Section: The Power Of Technological Mediationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Dorrestijn (2012) and Verbeek (2011, p. 82-89) have developed a framework for understanding how technologically mediated subjects can thematize and reconstitute power relations embedded in artifacts. Again, they refer to Foucault, but not to his middle work on power, but to his later work on self-constitution.…”

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confidence: 99%

Technological Mediation and Power: Postphenomenology, Critical Theory, and Autonomist Marxism

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“…The foundations for such a reading of Foucault are laid in the recent work of Steven Dorrestijn (Dorrestijn 2012). Dorrestijn reads Foucault's work on power through the lens of his later work on ethics.…”

Section: Technologies Of the Selfmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Between 'yes' and 'no' it was looking for a 'how.' Making Foucault's approach of the "technologies of the self" fruitful for a political philosophy of technology requires some translation work, as the work of Steven Dorrestijn shows (Dorrestijn 2006). Just like the passions, technologies have a continuous impact upon us.…”

Section: Technologies Of the Selfmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resistance Is Futile

Verbeek¹

2013

Techné: Research in Philosophy and Technology

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Andrew Feenberg's political philosophy of technology uniquely connects the neo-Marxist tradition with phenomenological approaches to technology. This paper investigates how this connection shapes Feenberg's analysis of power. Influenced by De Certeau and by classical positions in philosophy of technology, Feenberg focuses on a dialectical model of oppression versus liberation. A hermeneutic reading of power, though, inspired by the late Foucault, does not conceptualize power relations as external threats, but rather as the networks of relations in which subjects are constituted. Such a hermeneutic approach replaces De Certeau's tactics of resistance with a critical and creative accompaniment of technological developments.

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“…From the perspective of technology and ethics, the ToC modalities differentially shape the quality and types of interactions or fusions (Dorrestijn, 2011) between human and non-human actors that converge within the space. The hybridisation of humans and ToC is important to understand because ToC technically mediate choice and choosers, suggesting an important area for studies that examine the ethics of these technologies.…”

Section: Technology Society and The Selfmentioning

confidence: 99%

Technologies of choice: The shaping of choice on the World Wide Web

Graham¹

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Nowadays, choice is a ubiquitous aspect of everyday life. The emergence of the web has contributed to this explosion of choice, providing a seemingly endless landscape of goods and services to choose from. Whilst choice is held to be fundamental to individual freedom, wellbeing and self-identity, we currently have little understanding about how websites shape or govern choice, and what this might mean for individuals and society. This thesis undertakes a foundational examination of how choice is shaped in online spaces with respect to the design features and architecture of websites. Websites, or parts thereof, that are designed to enable users to navigate choice and compare between options to make decisions, are defined in this study as 'Technologies of Choice' (ToC).In undertaking the study, a phased, mixed methods approach was used. Drawing on several fields of literature, including science and technology studies, Foucaultian social theory, current and emerging social perspectives of choice, and Internet studies, a conceptual framework was developed for examining how choice is constructed and governed on the web. The ToC conceptual framework has four over-arching dimensions: 'Having Choice', 'Facilitating Choice', 'Knowledge Production', and 'Configuring Users'. The conceptual framework was then elaborated through an analysis of websites, resulting in 12 'sub-dimensions' and 56 'features'. The 12 sub-dimensions categorise sets of ToC features that shape choice in particular ways, for example, the 'scale' at which choice is provided or the different 'characteristics of commensurability' that make comparisons possible.Following this, the resulting conceptual framework was applied as an analytical tool to categorise 500 top-ranking websites, using content analysis. Of these 500 websites, 193 (or 39%) were identified as 'ToC websites'. The features of these 193 websites were analysed using descriptive statistics, multiple correspondence analysis, and hierarchical clustering, in order to determine the scale and patterns of distribution of ToC on the web, including whether there are broader 'types' of ToC that shape choice differently. ToC are found to be widespread on the web, constituting a kind of 'infrastructure of modernity'. Whilst ToC are predominantly observed in the commercial settings of recreational services and personal goods, the thesis shows that they are also found in other contexts, including consumer information, health and social care, and in different countries. Although the choice-making literature focuses on comparisons between 'products', the study finds that ToC more commonly enable comparisons between private services (67% of ToC sites) than private goods (42% of ToC sites). Similarly, choice is not always global: a third of ToC websites scale down the options on offer, for example to a particular brand (e.g. Virgin Media or BMW).Despite the ubiquity of ToC, the thesis finds diversity in their design. ToC features are not deployed uniformly on the web: some features are widely used (...

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Technical Mediation and Subjectivation: Tracing and Extending Foucault’s Philosophy of Technology

Cited by 67 publications

References 7 publications

Technological Mediation and Power: Postphenomenology, Critical Theory, and Autonomist Marxism

Technological Mediation and Power: Postphenomenology, Critical Theory, and Autonomist Marxism

Resistance Is Futile

Technologies of choice: The shaping of choice on the World Wide Web

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