Sustainability and Technology Andrew Feenberg 

Three Responses • If we’re on an unsustainable path, we should: – Take a small detour and return at a better point – Get off the path and go back – Create a new path • Three means radical innovation • Conserving modern values – Security, medical care – All round human development, rights 

A Little Constructivist Glossary • Flexible technology • Technical Underdetermination • Actors Influence Design • Interpretive Flexibility • Closure on a Successful Design • Co-Construction 

Actors and Designs • Technologies solve problems • What is perceived as problem is relative • Underdetermination of design • Variants with overlapping functions • No one best way • Layers of social demand • Translation into technical specifications • Multiplication of branches 

Constructivist Conclusions • Different actors different designs • Public concern with environment the key • User interventions modify design • Two sites of change – Exclusion and social technology (Brazil) – Communication technology and environmentalism – Can we combine information with persuasion? 

Sustainability and Technology Andrew Feenberg School of Communication Simon Fraser University Email: [email protected] Web: www.sfu.ca/~andrewf