0SV10 2022 Lect 2 SCOT

0SV10
Sustainable Technology in Society: SCOT

22-11-22
Frank Veraart (resp. lect.)
Innovation Sciences
Today
• Intro
• LTS & SCOT
• Your Questions
• Social Construction of Technology
• Assignment –
• Graded One-pager
• Skill Training Presentation
• Tips & tricks
2 0SV10 - SCOT
Course Setup Diagnostics
Social
Large Technical Construction of
Systems (LTS) Technology
(SCOT)
Sustainable Moral Values &
Development Scripts
Socio-Technical
System
Monitoring
Sustainbility Mediation of
& Policy Values
Governance of Sustainbility
Innovation Trade-offs
Intervention
3
Course Setup Diagnostics
Social
Large Technical Construction of
Systems (LTS) Technology
(SCOT)
Sustainable
Development
Socio-Technical
System
Intervention
LTS & SCOT – ´The Classics´ from 1980s
General Concern: Technological Determinism
• Technology shapes society

• Technology is shaped in autonomous process
Technology adoption – life cycles Moore´s Law

Critisism – Social Scientists
• Technology shapes society
• Society shapes technology
• Technology is shaped in autonomous process

• Human action shapes technology
Follow the actor(s)

Actor: a participant in an action or process.
(i.e. stakeholders – legal/economic setting)
6 0SV10 - SCOT
Human action – follow the system builder
Large Technical Systems
Technology Technology as System
Human action System builder

Actor (developer/business/organisation)
facing the technical and non-technical
challenges.
Technological Transdisciplinary Problem Solving
development Interrelated problems (i.e. market,
dynamics organisational ideas and technological setup)
Stability Momentum
Technology has mass, direction and speed
7 0SV10 - SCOT
Key concepts – see modules on Canvas
For Large Technical Systems Approach
Key concepts (exam) Other concepts in texts
Socio-technical system Phases of invention (invention, development, etc. )

Reverse salient
Critical problems
Systembuilder Inventor / Manager – entrepreneur
Transdisciplinary problem solving
Momentum
8 0SV10 - SCOT
Large Technical Systems Social Construction of Technolgy
Technology Technology as System …
Human action System builder …
challenges.
Technological Transdisciplinary Problem Solving …

Stability Momentum …
9 0SV10 - SCOT
Questions about LTS ?
10 0SV10 - SCOT
A B C D E
11 0SV10 - SCOT
12 0SV10 - SCOT
0sv10 Sustainable Technology in Society
SCOT
Frank Veraart, Nov. 2020
Your Questions
C3: Which of SCOT's 5 problems is the biggest?
B3: What are the three distinct bodies of work combined in the social
construction of technology (SCOT)? According to Bijker (1995), what are
the 3 research steps that can be established in the social construction of
technology?
C2: In what way did the science-technology-society (STS) influence areas

other than education (in secondary schools and at university)?
D4: How significant is the role of the system builders in the "stabilization"
phase of the social construction of an artifact?
Your Questions
C3: Which of SCOT's 5 problems is the biggest?
??
Intro
Today: Social Construction of Technology (SCOT)

or the socio-technical development processes of (arte)facts
Key Concepts:
Relevant Social Groups, Interpretitive Flexibility, Problem & Solution, Closure
Producers
Sport
cyclists
Penny
farthing
Dress Women
problem cyclists
Tourist
cyclers
Elderly
men
Brakes
Safety
Spring
problem
Lower frames
front
wheel Vibration
problem
Air
tires
Speed
problem
Xtraordinary Indirect Indirect
front wheel rear wheel
drive drive
16 0SV10 - SCOT
Origins of the 1970s
Science-technology-society
Studying scientists' social responsibility
Sociology of Scientific Knowledge

Separation of science and technology (truth discovery & application) NO RESULTS
Science & Technology are intermixed
Technology Studies
Economic: conditions of success in innovations (technology itself not
studied: linear assumption of innovation process)
History of Technology: asymmetrical focus: preference of successful
innovations leads us to assume that success explains its further
development
18
Your Questions
B3: What are the three distinct bodies of work combined in the social
construction of technology (SCOT)?
• science–technology–society (STS) movement

• scientists’ social responsibilities,
• sociology of scientific knowledge
• Philosophy understanding scientific and technological knowledge
• history of technology
• Understanding technological development
How can we understand the dynamics of
innovation processes?
Economic conventional answer:
development of science and technology follows a linear process.
linear orderly predictable
20 0SV10 - SCOT
How can we understand the dynamics of
innovation processes?
Economic conventional answer:
development of science and technology follows a linear process
• Teleological (finalist)
• Social & political interventions futile
• Social Scientists: Humans shape technology

21 0SV10 - SCOT
Social &Technical development
linear orderly predictable
Multidirectional messy openended
22 0SV10 - SCOT
Historical Success!?
The manifest success of an artifact is often taken as
evidence so that no further explanatory work seems
to be needed.
But: It is easy to be wise after the event!

23 0SV10 - SCOT
Success?!
If Science & technological development is NOT linear,
=> The success of an artefact is not self-evident!
So: its success has to be explained!
24 0SV10 - SCOT
How can we understand the dynamics
of innovation processes?
The approach you learn today says:
A process of social construction
The success of an artefact is not an intrinsic value but the
result of a process of social construction.
25 0SV10 - SCOT
Inherent criticism of (Bijker 2004, p.374)
technological determinism!
Standard View Social Constructivist view
Science and technology is value free Science and technology are value laden -> wk 3 & wk 4
Distinction Political vs. technical domain Political and technical domain are intertwined -> wk 7 & 8
Technology develops linear TD cannot be conceptualized in different phases
Distinction between TD vs. its effects Effects are part of the construction of technology
Technology determines the development of society Social Shaping of technology and technical development
are two sides of the same coin
Technology develops autonomously Technology develops in relation to social actors
26 0SV10 - SCOT
Social Construction Of Technology
To criticize deterministic, simplistic, linear thinking
about Socio-technical development
and
to analyse the development of artifacts
as a process of social construction
Pinch and Bijker (1987) introduce their SCOT approach.
Technological focus = Artifact
27 0SV10 - SCOT
Technology Technology as System Technological Artefact
Human action System builder …
challenges.
Technological Transdisciplinary Problem Solving …

28 0SV10 - SCOT
Research Question
How can we understand the

dynamics of innovation processes?
Answer today:
SocialConstructionOfTechnology
The development of technology can be understood
is a process of social construction!
29
The Artifact – the bicycle
30 0SV10 - SCOT
SCOT - Bicycle development up until 1880s
1870
Development of an artefact is
described as an alternation
between variation & selection.
1880s
The successful stages are not

the only possible ones.
Focus on
Problems & Solutions
PAGE
32
Your Questions
B3:
According to Bijker (1995), what are the 3 research steps that can be
established in the social construction of technology?
• Relevant Social Groups + Interpretative Flexibility

• Closure and Stabilization
• Construction of a Technological Frame (construction of actions)
33 0SV10 - SCOT
SCOT – core concepts
Problem- Closure
Relevant social Interpretative Closure
solution- mechanisms
groups flexibility
centered
Producers
Sport
cyclists
Penny
farthing
Dress Women
problem cyclists
Tourist
cyclers
Elderly
men
Brakes
Safety
Spring
problem
Lower frames
front
wheel Vibration
problem
Air
tires
Speed
problem
drive drive
34 0SV10 - SCOT
Relevant social groups
Organized and unorganized

groups of individuals
that share the same set of
meanings attached to a
specific artefact.
35
A range of relevant social groups!
Social Group
Social Group
Social Group
Social Group
36
Young men
37
Women
Young men
38
Anti-cyclists
Women
Young men
39
Anti-cyclists
40
Anti-cyclists
Women
41
Anti-cyclists
Women
Young men
42
Anti-cyclists
Elderly people
Women
Young men
43
Relevant social groups
Describe the artefact through the eyes of different

relevant social groups.
Social
group
Social
group
Social
Artifact group
Social
group Social
group
44 0SV10 - SCOT
The ordinary bicycle
The macho machine!

The unsafe machine!
- Danger of steep falls

“Young men of means and
nerve” ride it to impress their
- Scaring Lifestock
lady friends;
sports
- Skirts got entangled
Analysing an artefact through the eyes of different relevant

social groups produces different descriptions.
45
Human action System builder Relevant social groups

Actor (developer/business/organisation) groups with shared meaning about
facing the technical and non-technical technology
challenges.
Technological Transdisciplinary Problem Solving
46 0SV10 - SCOT
Interpretative flexibility
The meaning of technological artefacts is not pre-given but is socially constructed.
There is not just one possible or best way of designing an artefact.
Interpretative flexibility: in how people think about a technology but also in how
artefacts are designed.
47 0SV10 - SCOT
48
49 0SV10 - SCOT
Its a washing plunger (In Dutch: Wasklok)
50
Interpretative flexibility
The meaning of technological artefacts is not pre-
given but is socially constructed.
There is not just one possible or best way of

designing an artefact.
Interpretative flexibility: in how people think

about a technology but also in how artifacts are
designed.
51 0SV10 - SCOT
….were were we?
Problem-solution- Closure mechanisms

groups flexibility centered
Producers
Sport
cyclists
Penny
farthing
Dress Women
problem cyclists
Tourist
cyclers
Elderly
men
Brakes
Safety
Spring
problem
Lower frames
front
wheel Vibration
problem
Air
tires
Speed
problem
drive drive
52 0SV10 - SCOT

challenges.
Technological Transdisciplinary Problem Solving Interpretative Flexibility
53 0SV10 - SCOT
Problems & solutions
Problem A relevant social group

Problem
can have different problems
with an artifact.
Social
group Problem
Problem
54

Problem
with an artifact.
Social
group Problem
Problem
Solution
Solution
…and it can have different solutions

in mind to solve a problem. Problem
Solution Solution
55
A range of designs!
This results in …
56
The different interpretations
(by relevant social groups) of the
content of artifacts lead - by
means of different problems and
solutions - to different further
developments.
57

challenges.
development Interrelated problems (i.e. market, Variation (Problems by / for RSGs)
dynamics organisational ideas and technological setup) &
Selection (Solutions by RSGs)
58 0SV10 - SCOT
Stabilization and closure
Diminishing of interpretative flexibility

Some artefacts gain dominance over others
Meanings of social groups converge
One artifact emerges from this process of social construction
59 0SV10 - SCOT
“The safety bicycle”
development as a process
• The “invention” of the safety bicycle was not an isolated event but a 19 year
long process (1879-98)
• In the beginning relevant social groups did not see the safety bicycle, but a
large range of bi- and tricycles.
• The meaning & design of “the safety bicycle” had not stabilized yet.
• Only after 1898 one did not need to specify the details of a safety bicycle
anymore.
60 0SV10 - SCOT
Closure mechanisms
Rhetorical closure
“disappearance” of problems through rhetoric's
relevant social groups must see the problem as solved
Closure by Redefinition
Evaluation of problem/solution changes
61 0SV10 - SCOT
Rhetorical Closure
Advertisement
“Bicyclists! Why risk your limbs and
lives on high machines when for
road work a 40 inch or 42 inch “
Facile” gives all the advantages of
the other, together with almost
absolute safety.”
(quote found in Pinch&Bijker, p.44).
62 0SV10 - SCOT
Air tire
Engineers: air tire solution to vibration problem
Publics: aesthetic problem
Sport cyclists: vibration no problem (only for the low-wheelers),
air tires not of interest!
…but mounted on a racing bicycle: high speed!
→High speed tires convinced sporters & publics
= Air tire first seen as solution to vibration prob, then

recognized as solution to speed problem
63
Ca. 1900
Closure from
Australia
To
The Netherlands
64

challenges.
development Interrelated problems (i.e. market, Variation (Problems by / for RSGs)
dynamics organisational ideas and technological setup) &
Selection (Solutions by RSGs)
Stability Momentum Closure
Technology has mass, direction and speed Rethorical closure
65 0SV10 - SCOT
SCOT – core concepts
Problem-solution- Closure mechanisms

groups flexibility centered
Producers
Sport
cyclists
Penny
farthing
Dress Women
problem cyclists
Tourist
cyclers
Elderly
men
Brakes
Safety
Spring
problem
Lower frames
front
wheel Vibration
problem
Air
tires
Speed
problem
drive drive
66 0SV10 - SCOT
What about recumbant bicycle?
67 0SV10 - SCOT
A range of relevant social groups (1930s)!
Social Group
Social Group
Social Group
Social Group
68
Commuters
Women
Bike industries
Racers
69
View of Racers
• Faster bicycle?
• Broke records
Union Cycliste Internationale UCI)

(Sports Cycling federation)
• An imposter
• ´Redefintion´ of Bicycle
70 0SV10 - SCOT
View UCI
• ´Redefintion´ of Bicycle
• Dimamond frame
• Dimensions
• Since 1990s also position
• Redefintion of bicycle racing

• Only possible on UCI bikes
• Rhetoric closure
• Including power (week 7)
71 0SV10 - SCOT
Your Questions
D4: How significant is the role of the system builders in the "stabilization"
phase of the social construction of an artifact?
Systembuilder – could be creator of stabilization (see rhetorical closure)
However, SCOT does not presuppose this !
Example 2 UCI (not system builder) becomes main actor

Social Group
Social Group
Social Group
Social Group
73
74 0SV10 - SCOT

Problem
with an artifact.
Social
group Problem
Problem
Solution
Solution
…and it can have different solutions

in mind to solve a problem. Problem
Solution Solution
75
Problems & solutions: Municipality
Problem
Solution
Problem Solution
Social
group Problem Problem
Problem
Solution Solution
76
Beyond artefacts?
Theory and empirical cases
Applying SCOT to knowledge concepts?!
77 0SV10 - SCOT
How sustainable do you live?
78 0SV10 - SCOT
Context matters!
Sustainable development
means….
creating sustainable and dignified urban
-Invest in renewable energy and rural livelihoods for all,
-Eat locally produced food eradicating poverty.
-Buy fair trade products promoting literacy, health, gender
-Save energy equality, sanitation, clean water …
-Change consumption behavior
reversing deforestation and land
-Fly less often
degradation, promoting sustainable
-Take the bike
resource use, protecting biodiversity
-Etc.
79
Sustainable Development
Different dimensions and meanings depending on context
• Let’s unpack the concept of SD using SCOT
80
Southern Debt
Policy makers release
industry
Green tech
Sustainable
Development poverty
Climate change
Aid
programs
Southern
Behavioral citizens
changes Western
citizens
Disclaimer:
-general
-incomplete
-closure is empirical question
Social Construction
• Artifacts (Technologies)
• (Technological) Concepts
82 0SV10 - SCOT
SCOT Today
Actors
Interpretive Flexibility
Problems and Solutions (Artefacts)
Closure
83
Science & Technology Studies (STS)
• LTS and SCOT part of STS
• Addresses agency of multiple actors
• Emancipatory to Women, People of Colour and other minorities
• Sustainbility is about inclusion
These notions connect to:

• Gender Studies
• Gendered design / Gender biases in professions (feminist theories)
• Cultural studies
• Indigenous Knowledge systems
• Non- human agency (Actor Network theory)
• Machines (AI), Plants and animals have agency in TD
84 0SV10 - SCOT
STS beyond education
C2: In what way did the science-technology-society (STS) influence areas

other than education (in secondary schools and at university)?
85 0SV10 - SCOT
Further reading in STS
Jasanoff et.al. Handbook of Science and Technology Studies (e-book)
Olsen et. al. A Companion to the Philosophy of Technology
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9781444310795
Wiebe Bijker (1995) Of Bicycles, Bakelites and Bulbs: Towards a theory of
sociotechnical change (print book)
Ruth Oldenziel (1999) Making technology masculine (e-book)
Nelly Oudshoorn & Trevor Pinch (2003) How Users Matter (print book)
Bruno Latour (2005) Reassembling the social: An Introduction to Actor-Network-Theory (e-book)
86 0SV10 - SCOT
Follow up in courses
Next week:
• Winner: Politics of Technology (Technology & Morality)
• Q4: 0SAB0 - USEBase (User, Society Enterprise)
87 0SV10 - SCOT
Conclusion
Development of S&T is NOT linear
Social constructivist approaches criticize linear development assumptions and TD
SCOT traces dynamics of development processes; its key concepts are
SCOT can also be applied to knowledge concepts
88 0SV10 - SCOT
What is a bicycle?
It depends
who you ask
A B C D E
89 0SV10 - SCOT
Feedback First Analysis
Theory = leading
The theoretical framework structures your presentation, not the case document structure.
Many groups did that well, but not all.
Explanation: Aim = distinguish the theory perspective from the case document perspective.
Use clear titles and (research) questions to structure your presentation.
Distinquish between your sources (RSG) and your opinion (avoid ‘we’ / ‘they’) .
This is vital in a SCOT analysis!
• Use quotes and references (in one pager)
• Name the different actors (i.e. Company XYZ concluded ABC)
Next assignment:
same case, different perspective: this forces you to distinguish theory and case and think more abstract.
So organize your presentation in SCOT terms (example: bicycle innovation mapping).
90 0SV10 - SCOT
FRIDAY:
Group assignment 2: Graded One Pager & Presentation
1. Introduces your case in light of the SCOT framework.
2. That highlights your understanding of the key concepts.
• Select a technological artifact key to your case
• Provide an overview of the Relevant Social Groups
• Provide examples from your case of Interpretive Flexibility
• Describe the Problems and Solutions RSGs articulate
• Analyze how these dynamics drive the sociotechnical innovation process (is closure achieved?
– show closure mechanisms)
3. Show how you connected the concepts to your case

4. Discuss the merits and limits of this analysis in understanding sustainable
technological development
5. Shows the origins of your claims i.e. reference sources in your one pager
GRADED: 15% of your final grade Deadline 25 Nov: 12:00

FRIDAY:
Group assignment 2: Graded One Pager & Presentation
Turn the one pager into a presentation of maximum 8 minutes.
1 PRV student will give this presentation during the tutorial as part
of the Skill development Presenting.
On Canvas:
• Presenting support material
• PRV assignment and rubric
FORMATIVE ASSESSESMENT: by ESA trainer
92
See you on Friday!!
??
PAGE
93
Last Year Questions
PLEASE KEEP SENDING IN QUESTIONS – VIA DISCUSSION FORA
In what way does the SCOT framework rely on cultures? And how do
different cultures contribute to a general solution?
• It does rely on joint interpretations of RSG

• These are laden culturally
• Culture is not static
• (Rhetoric) closure creates alignment
• What is a general solution?

• To which general problem?

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0SV10

Sustainable Technology in Society: SCOT

Frank Veraart (resp. lect.)

• Social Construction of Technology

• Technology shapes society

Technology adoption – life cycles Moore´s Law

• Technology is shaped in autonomous process

Follow the actor(s)

Human action System builder

Socio-technical system Phases of invention (invention, development, etc. )

Transdisciplinary problem solving

Human action System builder …

development Interrelated problems (i.e. market,

Technology has mass, direction and speed

C3: Which of SCOT's 5 problems is the biggest?

C2: In what way did the science-technology-society (STS) influence areas

C3: Which of SCOT's 5 problems is the biggest?

Today: Social Construction of Technology (SCOT)

Sociology of Scientific Knowledge

• science–technology–society (STS) movement

linear orderly predictable

• Social Scientists: Humans shape technology

linear orderly predictable

Multidirectional messy openended

But: It is easy to be wise after the event!

If Science & technological development is NOT linear,

=> The success of an artefact is not self-evident!

So: its success has to be explained!

Technology develops linear TD cannot be conceptualized in different phases

Technology develops autonomously Technology develops in relation to social actors

Technological focus = Artifact

Human action System builder …

development Interrelated problems (i.e. market,

Technology has mass, direction and speed

How can we understand the

The successful stages are not

• Relevant Social Groups + Interpretative Flexibility

Organized and unorganized

Describe the artefact through the eyes of different

The macho machine!

- Danger of steep falls

Analysing an artefact through the eyes of different relevant

Human action System builder Relevant social groups

The meaning of technological artefacts is not pre-given but is socially constructed.

There is not just one possible or best way of designing an artefact.

There is not just one possible or best way of

Interpretative flexibility: in how people think

Problem-solution- Closure mechanisms

Human action System builder Relevant social groups

Problem A relevant social group

Problem A relevant social group

…and it can have different solutions

Human action System builder Relevant social groups

Diminishing of interpretative flexibility

→High speed tires convinced sporters & publics

= Air tire first seen as solution to vibration prob, then

Human action System builder Relevant social groups

Problem-solution- Closure mechanisms

Union Cycliste Internationale UCI)

• Redefintion of bicycle racing

Systembuilder – could be creator of stabilization (see rhetorical closure)

However, SCOT does not presuppose this !