Potts theoretical frameworks

Technological determinism refers to the belief that technology is the agent of social change. lt is both a popular attitude – reflected in such expressions as ’you can’t stop progress’ – and a theoretical position.

The term was coined by social scientist Thorstein Veblen in the 1920s, at a time when social policy in industrialized nations was increasingly influenced by technical capacity.

Technological determinism is linked to the idea of progress.

Technological determinism tends to consider technology as an independent factor, with its own properties, its own course of development, and its own consequences.

Technological change is treated as if autonomous: removed from social pressures, it follows a logic or imperative of its own.

The characteristics of a society play a major part in deciding which technologies are adopted, and how they are implemented and controlled.