Hutchby2001d
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BibType | ARTICLE |
Key | Hutchby2001d |
Author(s) | Ian Hutchby |
Title | Technologies, texts and affordances |
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Tag(s) | EMCA, Technology, Affordances, Materiality, Realism, Social constructionism |
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Year | 2001 |
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Journal | Sociology |
Volume | 35 |
Number | 2 |
Pages | 441–456 |
URL | Link |
DOI | 10.1177/S0038038501000219 |
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Abstract
In contrast to recent sociological emphases on the social shaping of technology, this article proposes and illustrates a way of analysing the technological shaping of sociality. Drawing on the concept of affordances (Gibson 1979), the article argues for a recognition of the constraining, as well as enabling, materiality of artefacts. The argument is set in the theoretical context of one of the most recent and comprehensive statements of anti-essentialism (Grint and Woolgar 1997). The position is illustrated through a reinterpretation of some case studies used by proponents of the radical constructivist position.
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