Economics Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
| |||
|
| |||
| Infrastructure: Infrastructure encompasses the essential physical and organizational structures and facilities that provide a foundation for the functioning of a society or organization. It includes transportation systems, communication networks, energy grids, water and sanitation systems, and public buildings. See also Economy, Society, Healthcare system, Transport policy, Road pricing._____________Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments. | |||
| Author | Concept | Summary/Quotes | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Sociology of Technology on Infrastructure - Dictionary of Arguments
Edwards I 42 Infrastructure/Sociology of technology/Edwards: In the 1980s and the 1990s, historians and sociologists of technology began studying the infrastructure phenomenon intensively. These researchers developed a “large technical systems” (LTS) approach to telephone, railroads, air traffic control, electric power, and many other major infrastructures.1 Around the same time, some scholars began to identify infrastructure as a key analytic category.2 The LTS school of thought generated new insights into questions of organizational, social, and historical change. Recently, investigators have applied this and related infrastructure-oriented approaches to urban development, European history, globalization, scientific “cyberinfrastructure,” and Internet studies.3 I 44 Systems/Edwards: No system or network can ever fulfill all the requirements users may have. Systems work well because of their limited scope, their relative coherence, and their centralized control. System builders try to expand by simply increasing their systems’ scale to reach more potential users, thereby excluding competitors. System builders seek to find or create well-defined niches that can be served by centrally designed and controlled systems, but users’ goals typically I 45 include functions that may be best served (for them) by linking separate systems. The fundamental dynamic of infrastructure development can thus be described as a perpetual oscillation between the desire for smooth, system-like behavior and the need to combine capabilities no single system can yet provide. For these reasons, in general infrastructures are not systems but networks or webs.4 1. 12. W. Bijker et al., The Social Construction of Technological Systems (MIT Press, 1987); W. E. Bijker and J. Law, eds., Shaping Technology/Building Society: Studies in Sociotechnical Change (MIT Press, 1992); P. Blomkvisk and A. Kaijser, eds., Den Konstruerade Världen: Tekniska System i Historiskt Perspektiv (Brutus Östlings, 1998); I. Braun and B. Joerges, Technik ohne Grenzen (Suhrkamp, 1994); O. Coutard, The Governance of Large Technical Systems (Routledge, 1999); O. Coutard et al., Sustaining Urban Networks: The Social Diffusion of Large Technical Systems (Routledge, 2004); A. Gras, Les Macro-Systèmes Techniques (Brutus Östlings, 1997); T. P. Hughes, Networks of Power: Electrification in Western Society, 1880–1930 (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1983); T. P. Hughes, Rescuing Prometheus (Pantheon Books, 1998); T. P. Hughes, Human-Built World: How to Think About Technology and Culture (University of Chicago Press, 2004); A. Kaijser, I Fädrens Spår: Den Svenske Infrastrukturens Historiska Utveckling och Framtida Utmaningar (Carlssons, 1994); T. R. La Porte, ed., Social Responses to Large Technical Systems: Control or Adaptation (Kluwer, 1991); R. Mayntz and T. P. Hughes, The Development of Large Technical Systems (Westview, 1988); J. Summerton, ed., Changing Large Technical Systems (Westview, 1994). 2. Star and Ruhleder, “Steps Toward an Ecology of Infrastructure”; P. N. Edwards, “Y2K: Millennial Reflections on Computers as Infrastructure,” History and Technology 15 (1998): 7–; G. C. Bowker and S. L. Star, Sorting Things Out: Classification and Its Consequences (MIT Press, 1999); Edwards, “Infrastructure and Modernity”; E. van der Vleuten, “Infrastructures and Societal Change: A View From the Large Technical Systems Field,” Technology Analysis & Strategic Management 16, no. 3 (2004): 395–. 3. Held et al., Global Transformations; S. Graham and S. Marvin, Splintering Urbanism: Networked Infrastructures, Infrastructures, Technological Mobilities and the Urban Condition (Routledge, 2001); G. C. Bowker, Memory Practices in the Sciences (MIT Press, 2005); J. Schot et al., “Tensions of Europe: The Role of Technology in the Making of Europe,” special issue, History and Technology 21, no. 1 (2005); P. N. Edwards et al., Understanding Infrastructure: Dynamics, Tensions, and Design (Deep Blue, 2007); E. van der Vleuten and A. Kaijser, eds., Networking Europe: Transnational Infrastructures and the Shaping of Europe, 1850–2000 (Science History Publications/USA, 2007). 4. Jackson, S. J., Edwards, P. N., Bowker, G. C., & Knobel, C. P. (2007). Understanding infrastructure: History, heuristics and cyberinfrastructure policy. First Monday, 12(6). https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v12i6.1904_____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
Sociology of Technology Edwards I Paul N. Edwards A Vast Machine: Computer Models, Climate Data, and the Politics of Global Warming Cambridge 2013 |
||
> Counter arguments against Sociology of Technology
> Counter arguments in relation to Infrastructure
Authors A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Concepts A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
