Towards a Sociology of Information Technology

Abstract

The technical attributes of the new information and communication technologies (ICTs) increasingly dominate explanations of contemporary change and development. As Judy Wajcman (this issue) points out, many sociologists see technology as the impetus for the most fundamental social trends and transformations.1 To this I would add a tendency to understand or conceptualize these technologies in terms of technical properties and to construct the relation to the sociological world as one of applications and impacts. The challenge for sociology is not so much to deny the weight of technology, but rather to develop analytic categories that allow us to capture the complex imbrications of technology and society