Abstract: Technology is increasingly taking on roles that can overwhelm human interests. It is now widely acknowledged that energy intensive technologies cause climate change, but curbing the use of these technologies is proving to be extremely difficult. Similarly, humans are excited about the possibilities of artificial intelligence, even as these possibilities include aspects that can overwhelm human interests. Technology would thus seem to have gained an authority of its own.
This talk will take authority to mean having commands obeyed without the need for coercion or persuasion. It will explore the creation of this authority by examining the experience of a village in Jharkhand with the introduction of new technologies. It will scrutinize the social construction of technology, that is, the social dynamics that introduce new technologies into the village and the impact of technology on social processes. It will go on to trace the absorption of technology into the everyday life of the village. It will scan the effects of technology from its beginning in work related activities, to its role in the family, and finally to its impact on the sense of being of individuals. The talk will end by arguing that to the extent that technology determines what individuals want to do or be it develops an authority of its own.
About the speakers: Mr. Ajit Kumar Babu is a Doctoral Student in the Inequality and Human Development programme under School of Social Science, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru.
Dr. Narendar Pani is JRD Tata Chair Visiting Professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru. After a Ph.D. in economics, he moved into transdisciplinary research which allowed him to explore diverse, but interconnected, aspects of Indian reality. His work over the last four decades has thus ranged from agrarian reform to urban processes, confronting challenges of the method along the way. His books include Inclusive Economics: Gandhian Method and Contemporary Policy (2002) and The City as Action: Retheorizing Urban Studies (2022).