Abstract
When Durkheim (1933) wrote that the introduction of technologies had produced “profound changes... in the structure of our societies in a very short time”, he was warning against the unqualified acceptance of rapid technological change before a knowledge base had had time to develop from the existing values and shared experiences of individuals. This paper will consider how the technologising of society, in the context of work, is at once a suppression of knowledge and a reaffirmation of its power. Interpretive analysis of office-based employees in three organisations reveals how the abstraction, the alienation, the anomie that disorientates, invades, isolates and ultimately separates individuals from the conditions of their work, are symptoms of this assault on knowledge. Paradoxically, the analysis also disputes the pre-eminence of this view. It considers the technologising of society to be establishing a prevailing knowledge base that provides a range of new opportunities for not only communicating at work, but also increasing mobility within and without the workplace, raising employment prospects, and nurturing a greater sense of self-sufficiency, accountability and responsibility. This paper contends that these are factors, which indicate that the technologising of society, by cultivating fresh sources of knowledge, is also empowering individuals through the facilitation of new autonomous working practices.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Research carried out by the author of this paper for his PhD thesis entitled Communication Technologies in the Workplace: a study of office based employees. Case studies were conducted in three organisations—a new user, an established user and a long-term user of new technology. The organisations comprised a local firm of solicitors, a regional bank Head Office and an international telecommunications company, all based in England.
Foley, S, Rosenberg, D, Crisp, M-J, Kammas, S, Lievonen M (2003). “Human Environment Framework and Model”, D22: Final report of Royal Holloway University of London contribution to the SANE (Sustainable Accommodation for the New Economy), EU, F5 IST-2000-25257; public document to be published in research monograph: “Interaction Space”, to be published by CSLI Publications/Cambridge University Press (forthcoming).
References
Beck U (1992) Risk society: towards a new modernity. Sage, London
Beck U (2000) The brave new world of work. Polity, Cambridge, UK
Beck U, Giddens A, and Lash S (1994) Reflexive Modernization: politics, tradition, and aesthetics in the modern social order. Blackwell Publishers, Oxford, UK
Berger PL (1977) Facing up to modernity: towards a critique of modernity. Basic Books, New York
Braverman H (1974) Labour and monopoly capital Monthly Review, New York
Castells M (1989) The informational city: information technology, economic restructuring, and the urban-regional process. Blackwell, Oxford, UK
Castells M (1996) The rise of the network society. Blackwell, Oxford, UK
Castells M (2000). End of millennium. Blackwell, Oxford, UK
Durkheim E (1933) The division of labour in society. Macmillan, London
Ferguson M (1990) Public communication, the new imperatives. Sage, London
Foley S (2002) Communication technologies in the workplace: a study of office based employees. Dissertation, University of Leeds
Foley S, Rosenberg D, Crisp M-J, Kammas S and Lievonen M (2003) Human environment framework and model. D22: Final report of Royal Holloway University of London contribution to the SANE (Sustainable Accommodation for the New Economy), EU, F5 IST-2000–25257.
Foucault M (1977) Discipline and punish, the birth of the prison. Penguin, London
Gerlech N, Hamilton SN (2001) Cyber Inc.— business restructuring literature and/as cybertheory. Convergence, Spring 2001
Giddens A (1990) The consequences of modernity. Polity, Cambridge, UK
Giddens A (1991) Modernity and identity in the late modern age. Polity, Cambridge, UK
Gorz A (1985) Paths to paradise/on the liberation from work. Pluto, London
Gorz A (1999) Reclaiming work: beyond the wage-based society. Polity, Oxford, UK
Hamel G, Prahalad CK (1994) Competing for the future. Harvard Business School Press, Boston, p 29
Lash S, Wynn B (1992) Introduction. In: Beck U (ed) Risk Society: towards a new modernity. Sage, London
Marx K (1920) Capital: a critical analysis of capitalist production. Glaisher, London, UK
McLuhan M (1964) Understanding media: the extensions of man. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London
Miles MB, Huberman AM (1994) An expanded sourcebook—qualitative data analysis. Sage, London
Weber M (1974) The Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism. Allen & Unwin, London
Yin R (1994) Case study research: design and methods. Sage, London
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Foley, S. Technology and knowledge: the affirmation of power. AI & Soc 18, 310–333 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-003-0294-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-003-0294-6