Theory and Society

, Volume 37, Issue 5, pp 461–483 | Cite as

Technology and institutions: living in a material world

Article
First Online:

Abstract

This article addresses the relationship between technology and institutions and asks whether technology itself is an institution. The argument is that social theorists need to attend better to materiality: the world of things and objects of which technical things form an important class. It criticizes the new institutionalism in sociology for its failure to sufficiently open up the black box of technology. Recent work in science and technology studies (S&TS) and in particular the sociology of technology is reviewed as another route into dealing with technology and materiality. The recent ideas in sociology of technology are exemplified with the author’s study of the development of the electronic music synthesizer.

Keywords

Social Construction Material World Experimental Music Boundary Shifter Material Practice 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Notes

Acknowledgments

An earlier version of this article was presented at the 2003 UC Santa Barbara conference “Cultural Turn IV: Instituting and Institutions”. I am particularly grateful for detailed written comments from John Mohr and Thomas Gieryn.

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© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2008

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Science and Technology Studies DepartmentCornell UniversityIthacaUSA

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