The purpose of this essay is to explain why it will be a problem to explain biological warfare with the SCOT theory, actor-network theory and technological systems theory.
Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) is a theory that was introduced by Weiber Bijker that explains the link between social and technical processes of a technology or artifact. Bjiker argued that technology is shaped by human engineers, market forces, consumer’s needs and demands. In SCOT, technology is a social construction. Because technology is socially constructed, it involves flexibility of interpretations, stabilization and closure.
Biological warfare cannot be explained by SCOT theory because stabilization and closure which is the cornerstone of the
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Among the components of technological systems are physical artifacts, such as biological weapon agents, aerosols, milling machines, microscopes. Technological systems also include organizations such as terrorist groups, governments and manufacturing laboratories. Legislative artifacts such as treaties and protocols can also be part of technological systems. Overtime, technological systems tend to join environmental factors into the system- eliminating uncertainty ("free market"). They are goal oriented: reordering of the material world to make it more productive. As technological systems develop after a long period acquire momentum which makes the system have more influence on society- it will begin to shape society.
The reason technological systems concept will be unable to explain biological warfare is because Hughes assumed that the society can resist the momentum of a technology if they act earlier. In the production and use of biological weapons, the majority of the public are outsiders therefore, even if the “society” is aware of biological weapon technology in its early stage, their voice would not have any influence on the technology compared to the insiders (experts like microbiologists and organizations).
Actor-network theory, sometimes abbreviated to ANT, is a sociological theory developed by Bruno Latour, Michel Callon and John Law. The primary tenet of actor-network theory is the concept that
Leo Marx, once a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Harvard graduate, wrote an article titled “Technology The Emergence of a Hazardous Concept”. In this article, the author explores the modern day definition of the word technology and argues that technology offers too broad of a definition and is ill fitting to describe all technical advancements and their creators. Technology can be defined as the branch of knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their interrelation with life, society, and the environment, drawing upon such subjects as industrial arts, engineering, applied science, and pure science (dictionary.com). On the other hand, it can
W asks, Can technology "embody specific forms of power and authority" (19). He reviews the ideas of Kropotikin, Morris Hayes, Lillienthal, Boorstein and Mumford on his way to answering his question. For example, Hayes states that "deployment of nuclear power facilities must lead society toward authoritarianism" because of safety concerns (19-20). W believes "that technical systems of various kinds are deeply interwoven in the conditions of modern politics [and further, that the] physical arrangements of industrial production, warfare, communications, and the like have fundamentally changed the exercise of power and the experience of citizenship" (20). Indeed, "human ends are powerfully transformed as they are adapted to technical means" (21).
In a world that is known of many backgrounds, cultures, religions, and most important different views on the way of life. We face the biggest challenge in civilization and that’s diversity, because of the fact all over the world we disagree more than we can agree on what is taking place in this world many places result in violence to solve problems. Most of the violence that take place are within the nation. People tend to fight again things they feel doesn’t apply to them or would affect their way of living. However, a major problem global is that when nations can’t agree internationally on ceasing something that another feel is not lawful that’s when things become more complex. And the act of terrorism against
The meaning of technological frame is the members of relevant social group’s negotiate the meaning of the artifact. Things like; problems, solutions, requirement, and problem solving strategies. (October 2nd Lecture) It structures the interactions among the members of the relevant social groups into a process. (October 2nd Lecture)
A governmental concern is that a bioterrorist attack will trigger panic amongst the population. Panic refers to a group response where intense fear causes people to be concerned with only their survival. While actual panic is rare, there are certain factors that could cause panic in the event of a bioterrorist attack, including limited medical resources where “first come, first serve” applies, a perception that there is poor
The fear of a Chemical or Biological attack has been a concern to many governments. These attacks, either by state agencies or individuals, have caused loss of life and the United States has not been spared in this forms of attacks.
In many cases, war is fought in order to gain something. It could be territory, or wealth, or power, but in some cases it is fought simply to kill. A type of warfare that exemplifies this is chemical and biological warfare. These attacks are aimed simply at killing everybody. In addition, most people think of biological warfare as a very recent war tactic, dating back not much further than agent orange, deployed in Vietnam. In fact, one of the first and one of the most devastating instances of biological warfare occurred much earlier, in 1347. This was the attack that brought the black plague from it’s origins in western Asia to Europe through Caffa, a city on the modern Crimean peninsula.
that technology is usually seen as an external force which is usually introduced to a social situation. However, contrary to the view of most sociologists who support technological determinism, majority of the scholars have argued that social forces determine technologies (Hutchby, 2001).
Imagine this: you wake up hours before your alarm sounds to find your entire neighborhood in chaos; people running, robbing banks and stores, and bodies are littering the once calm streets. Over the night, a government-run biological experiment dealing with germ weapons had been released, infecting, destroying, and causing panic across the globe. As a single, globalized society, we need to heighten our security against biological weapons and biological terror to prevent the endangerment of mankind. It would be most beneficial to our species if we did not try to use or experiment with biological weapons, seeing as they are engineered specifically to create social, economic, governmental, military, and general fear and disruption. Bioterror
Bioterrorism did not begin with 2001 anthrax attacks; it has occurred throughout history and its threat to
Technology is the sum of the ways in which social groups provide themselves with the material objects of their civilization.
Bioterrorism is defined according to Centers of Disease Control & Prevention as “deliberate release of viruses, bacteria, or other germs (agents) used to cause illness or death in people, animals, or plants” (CDC, 2007). Going into history, it can be said that bioterrorism is not a recent phenomenon, since it has been practiced as a war tactic in middle ages, many European wars and in the World Wars (Riedel 2004; Wheelis 2002).In the North American context, it is pertinent to mention about the Siege of Fort Pitt. A British commander by the name of Amherst, has been alleged to order distribution of blankets to Native Americans, which were previously contaminated by small pox patients(Riedel, 2004).It is also reported that many countries were involved in developing biological weapons program both in World War I
As long as there have been people in this world, technology and science have existed. Technology is a powerful force which helped in the development of civilization and is a part of our system of culture that reflects its values. Technology has become very complex over the years and today it is known to be a social enterprise that includes all aspects such as research, design, finance, manufacturing, labor etc.
Throughout the course of history, several methods of warfare have been practiced. One of the standard procedures for war is to use weapons such as pistols, shotguns, grenades, and automatic infantry. The other method is known as biological warfare, which is the use of diseases and other biological agents to harm enemies or citizens of an opposing country. Considering that the world flourishes in science today, scientists are researching for more efficient ways to handle war, which is were biological warfare comes in. After this method was discovered, many armies looked to it as the savior of war. Unfortunately, people are not aware of the many consequences that biological warfare holds.
Many of the disadvantages of biological weapons use relate to difficulties in executing an attack. For example, it is difficult to protect workers during the processes of production, transportation, and delivery, while immunization maybe ineffective or simply irrelevant. The danger that biological agents can also affect the health of the aggressor forces, the dependence on prevailing winds and other weather conditions on effective dispersion, the effects of temperature, sunlight, and desiccation on the survivability of some infectious organisms. Also the environmental persistence of some agents, such as spore-forming anthrax bacteria, which can make an, area un inhabitable for long periods, the possibility that secondary aerosols of the agent