Abstract
Technological determinism is an abiding temptation. It is not only professionals with a stake in technological development and expansion who succumb to it but also anyone in any way seduced by the allure of the latest recent offerings in the world of information and communications technologies (ICTs) and other computer-based systems. Both utopian and dystopian versions of it need to be countered, and that in part is the purpose of this book. More specifically, it examines the relationship between technology and sustainable social change. The tripartite structure of the book is built around three As: appetisers, arguments and applications. With the appetisers, we are given general introductions. Christine Ogan shows that technology continues to be seen as the key driver of change, including in those parts of the world striving to become networked, while Rich Ling argues that networked mediation technologies create a series of reciprocal social expectations as they expand which we feel increasingly compelled to fulfil. David Morley makes the case for placing new communications technologies in a broad historical and cultural context, so avoiding both presentist and media-centric positions. This first section closes with a contribution by Patchanee Malikhao in which she offers a Buddhist phenomenological perspective on sustainable development and social change. In the arguments section, Colin Sparks moves beyond technical affordance to see its possibilities in the context of issues of liberation and progressive change. Marko M. Skoric, Yong Jin Park and Yalong Jiang look at the relationship between dominant cultural values and the level of ICT development; Jo Tacchi finds mobile phones meaningful only within specific uses and settings; Emily Polk explores the communication processes of community-led responses to the current global financial and climate crisis; John Hartley turns again to digital storytelling. The third part offers five chapters on applications, with Karin Wilkins discussing the Grameen Bank and its micro-funding programmes for poor Bangladeshi women; Ellen Hommel, Rico Lie and AnnekeSmelik looking at two cases in the Netherlands involving the impact of visual technology on youth participation; Melissa Brough investigating the relationship between digital communication, participation and social change in Medellin, Colombia; Valentina Baú examining a participatory video project in Kenya in the aftermath of the 2007/2008 postelection violence; and Song Shi exploring the Tiger Gate case in China. Jan Servaes provides the conclusion. He has edited a valuable collection of essays that oppose technological determinism and idealism, instrumentalism and quick-fix solutions to long-term problems. It should be widely read.