Society & Technology: The Lenskis’ Typology

• Axioms:

  • The greater the amount of technology, the greater the rate of change.
  • Technological growth alters the natural environment.
  • Expanding technology increases social inequality.

  "...people without symbolic skills are likely to become the 'underclass' of the new century."

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  Notes:

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  An axiom is like a general rule for a situation. (Under these conditions, this will happen.)
  Scoiocultural evolution is the process of change that results from a society’s gaining new information, especially new technologies. The Lenskis said that technology would shape other cultural patterns.
  The greater the amount of technology, the greater the rate of change.
  Technological growth alters the natural environment.
  Expanding technology increases social inequality.
  Advanced technological societies have increased material benefits for greater numbers of people.
  Cultural lag becomes increasingly important
  in technologically advanced societies.
  Technology creates problems
  even as it solves them.
  

  Given the exponetial growth of technology and especially computer technology since the "invention" of the personal computer in the mid-1980s, the question becomes- are the new computer-based tools widely available in post industrial American society distributed evenly throughout the stratification (social class) system? Macionis discusses this in the "Information Revolution" box wherein he applies Durkheim, Marx, and Weber ideas to the Information Revolution. He notes that, from Marx's perspective or a contemporary Social-Conflict paradigm "...people without symbolic skills are likely to become the 'underclass' of the new century." And indeed this very thought has been the subject of political debate and new emphases in educational institutions.

  Briefly, while there is some dispute as to the exact extent of access to technology by Americans, most analysts agree that there is some stratification along lines of race/ethnicity, gender, economic status, urban/rural status, and especially educational level. The divide is greatest in rural parts of the country; however, overall, education seems to be the strongest indicator of both access to and use of computers and the Internet both in the home and in the workplace. (See "Education: Boosting the Odds for Internet Use.") Since the July 1995 U.S. Department of Commerce Study "Falling Through the Net," both the government and private industries have acknowledged the existence of this technological stratification and the need to seek solutions to this post industrial social problem. For an up-to-date discussion and links to information about this subject, see the web site Closing the Digital Divide. (Don't forget you will need to use your back button to return here.)