With Escobar’s “Welcome to Cyberia,” here are some musings to help you get through the article.
” the study of cyberculture is particularly concerned with the cultural constructions and reconstructions on which the new technologies are based and which they in turn help to shape” (Escobar 1994:211)
STS (Science and Technology Studies) and the idea of “social constructivism”: “contingency and flexibility are the essence of technological change; by showing that social processes are inherent to technological innovations, they deal a fatal blow to the alleged separation of technology from society and of both of these from nature” (Escobar 1994:212)
What is the connection between science, technology, and culture?
What is a cyborg?
Research Domains:
1. The production and use of new technologies.
2. Computer-mediated communities – virtual villages.
3. Popular culture of science and technology.
4. Computer-mediated communication.
5. The political economy of cyberspace. (i.e., the digital divide)