Technology, Politics, Society

From contestations around autonomous weapons systems to Chinese infrastructural ventures along a ‘new Silk Road’; from data mining by multinational tech companies to imposing geo-engineering solutions to eventually halt climate change: global political issues are infused with technology. What is more, we are entering an age of algorithmic governance where machines become involved in decision-making about deeply political questions about justice and liberty. Therefore, the implications of advancement in science and technology for questions of how we organize society democratically are immense.

This course provides you with skills to critically examine the relationship between technology, society, and (global) politics and it approaches questions including: 

• How can we understand technology in social transformation: as an autonomous force, as a mere expression of human intent or as co-constituted in social realities? 
• What are the main contestations that emerge around technological development for political issues of participation, authority, and freedom? 
• What are productive ways to make use of technology for inclusion, justice, and sustainability? 

This course aims at familiarizing you with the main approaches to the study of technology, society, and politics drawing on insights from the history of technology, science and technology studies, environmental social sciences as well as human geography. After the course, you will be able to identify and critically examine controversies with regard to power, authority, knowledge, and participation evoked by technological development across society. You will also be able to identify contentious issues in a number of relevant themes and elucidate their political and ethical ramifications with the help of the theoretical perspectives introduced in the course.