Bijker, Wiebe E. (1992) - The Social Construction of Fluorescent Lighting, or How an Artifact Was Invented in Its Diffusion Stage

General Thoughts

NOTE: This essay is Chapter 3 (pages 75-104) of Bijker & Law (1992) - Shaping Technology / Building Society: Studies in Sociotechnical Change

Citations

[75] {linear, technical, development, invention, stage, phase} ...the application of a linear stage model of technical development is detrimental to understanding the development of technical artifacts. Rather, no stages can be distinguished.

[76] {interpretative flexibility, artifact, object, invention, social, interpretation, definition} The interpretative flexibility of an artifact can be demonstrated by showing how, for different social groups, the artifact presents itself as essentially different artifacts.

[97] {diffusion, innovation, invention} Basic to all "new" technology studies is that even in the diffusion stage, the process of invention continues.

[97] {social, technological, impact, methodology} ...the social shaping of a technical artifact and the social impact of that technical artifact are to be analyzed with the same concepts, within the same frame and, preferably, even within the same study.

[98] {technological frame, definition} ..."technological frame" a hinge between the social impact and the social shaping perspectives on technology.

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