Engineering the revolution?: Imagining the role of new digital technologies in infrastructure work futures
Engineering the revolution?: Imagining the role of new digital technologies in infrastructure work futures
Contemporary imaginations of the impact of new digital technologies (NDTS) are dominated by utopian visions of a ‘revolution’ in productivity and efficiency, contrasted with dystopian views of declines of work and human skills, and distrust of artificial intelligence's efficacy. This article explores imaginations of digital futures in the infrastructure sector through case study research of a global engineering organisation. Drawing on a practice approach, a typology is generated from interviews with engineers and managers to reveal that three broad imaginations compete within the organisation: technodeterminism; technoscepticism; and human-centric, all with utopian and dystopian variants. Clear relationships exist between the diverse imaginary positions taken by employees with their different roles, biographies and levels of the organisational agency. Those with relatively higher levels of agency tended towards technocentric utopianism while those with lower levels of agency displayed a resolutely dystopian version. Conversely, while the outward-facing image of the organisation promotes a utopian imagination of a technologically driven future, those with the very highest levels of the organisational agency remain technosceptic. This means that real change is slow. However, an encouraging manifesto for the future is suggested by those who are innovating NDTS to reimagine alternative infrastructure futures through improved human-centric social outcomes.
dystopia, engineering, human-centric, infrastructure, new digital technologies, sociotechnical imaginaries, technodeterminism, technoscepticism, utopia, work futures
Leonard, Pauline
a2839090-eccc-4d84-ab63-c6a484c6d7c1
Tyers, Roger
c161aff8-0dfb-4616-a3fc-dd91800d9386
15 December 2021
Leonard, Pauline
a2839090-eccc-4d84-ab63-c6a484c6d7c1
Tyers, Roger
c161aff8-0dfb-4616-a3fc-dd91800d9386
Leonard, Pauline and Tyers, Roger
(2021)
Engineering the revolution?: Imagining the role of new digital technologies in infrastructure work futures.
New Technology, Work and Employment.
(doi:10.1111/ntwe.12226).
Abstract
Contemporary imaginations of the impact of new digital technologies (NDTS) are dominated by utopian visions of a ‘revolution’ in productivity and efficiency, contrasted with dystopian views of declines of work and human skills, and distrust of artificial intelligence's efficacy. This article explores imaginations of digital futures in the infrastructure sector through case study research of a global engineering organisation. Drawing on a practice approach, a typology is generated from interviews with engineers and managers to reveal that three broad imaginations compete within the organisation: technodeterminism; technoscepticism; and human-centric, all with utopian and dystopian variants. Clear relationships exist between the diverse imaginary positions taken by employees with their different roles, biographies and levels of the organisational agency. Those with relatively higher levels of agency tended towards technocentric utopianism while those with lower levels of agency displayed a resolutely dystopian version. Conversely, while the outward-facing image of the organisation promotes a utopian imagination of a technologically driven future, those with the very highest levels of the organisational agency remain technosceptic. This means that real change is slow. However, an encouraging manifesto for the future is suggested by those who are innovating NDTS to reimagine alternative infrastructure futures through improved human-centric social outcomes.
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Accepted/In Press date: 24 November 2021
e-pub ahead of print date: 15 December 2021
Published date: 15 December 2021
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
This study was funded by the ESRC Grant number ES/M500485/1.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors. New Technology, Work and Employment published by Brian Towers (BRITOW) and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
Keywords:
dystopia, engineering, human-centric, infrastructure, new digital technologies, sociotechnical imaginaries, technodeterminism, technoscepticism, utopia, work futures
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 452723
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/452723
ISSN: 0268-1072
PURE UUID: afca25c1-d030-4685-aa62-fee984a8125f
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Date deposited: 16 Dec 2021 17:38
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 03:54
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