Technological Determinism and Permissionless Innovation as Technocratic Governing Mentalities: Psychocultural Barriers to the Democratization of Technology

Abstract

Despite no shortage of thoughtful analysis concerning how to more democratically develop and assess new technologies, practical progress toward democratized innovation has been paltry. This state of affairs suggests that the barriers to such democratic ends merit more attention. Building upon calls to more seriously examine citizens' understandings of technology as autonomous or deterministic, this paper characterizes the assumptions, beliefs, and patterns of thought undergirding technological determinism and permissionless innovation as technocratic governing mentalities. That is, they contribute to the biasing of political discourses, practices, and organizations toward non-decision making and adaptation with regards to technological change. Indeed, permissionless innovation is quickly becoming the motto of those aiming to legitimate a "hands-off" approach to the sociotechnical "disruptions" sought by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. Moreover, this paper explores how STS, as both an academic and political endeavor, might better respond to the challenges these modes of thinking present. Drawing upon relevant work within social psychology and communications, several fruitful avenues for engaged research regarding undermining technocratic governing mentalities become apparent. Not only is there a pressing need for accessible and parsimonious counternarratives to technological determinism and permissionless innovation but also rhetorical strategies for making the democratization of technological appear continuous with aspects of status quo systems. Finally, given that technocratic governing mentalities are likely to have practical and material roots, inquiry should be directed toward understanding how different sociotechnical arrangements impact citizens' perception of the desirability and feasibility of democratizing technology.

Challenging Convergences in Lay Thought and STS Practice: A Reply to My Critics

“…Hess appears to accuse me of promoting "a methodology restricted to…'culturalism' [which] can result in 'theory somnambulism.'" However, I see my recommendation as more modest, entailing "drawing upon and extending" research lines within social psychology and communications (Dotson 2015). While my phrasing is up for multiple interpretations, I had hoped that most readers would not confuse "drawing upon and extending" with a call for an uncritical or naïve embrace of these disciplines' outlooks and methodologies.…”

‘Crises of Modernity’ Discourses and the Rise of Financial Technologies in a Contested Mechanized World

“…Similarly, Dotson (2012: 329) bemoans the 'mix of triumphant technological determinism and individualistic libertarianism' that, in his view, characterized the current dependence on financialization. He believes that the responsibility for sorting out desirable technologies from undesirable ones may no longer be left to innovators, governments, businesses, and markets (Dotson 2015). Carlo Vercellone (2015) believes that new technologies could make it possible to re-establish Keynesian mechanisms that subject monetary policy to a power complex that is expressive of a democratic community-for instance, through a communalization of the banking system, facilitated by new financial technologies that require no banks and no governments.…”

The Practices of Making Innovation Public

“…According to Dotson (2015), STS first needs to acknowledge that a major barrier to democratization is psychocultural in nature. Why do people still lap up the latest smartphone upgrade and drive big cars?…”