On Technological Determinism: A Typology, Scope Conditions, and a Mechanism
Abstract
“Technological determinism” is predominantly employed as a critic’s term, used to dismiss certain classes of theoretical and empirical claims. Understood more productively as referring to claims that place a greater emphasis on the autonomous and social-shaping tendencies of technology, technological determinism is a valuable and prominent perspective. This article will advance our understanding of technological determinism through four contributions. First, I clarify some debates about technological determinism through an examination of the meaning of technology. Second, I parse the family of claims related to technological determinism. Third, I note that constructivist and determinist insights may each be valid given particular scope conditions, the most prominent of which is the scale of analysis. Finally, I propose a theoretical microfoundation for technological determinism— military–economic adaptationism—in which economic and military competition constrain sociotechnical evolution to deterministic paths. This theory is a special case of a general theory—sociotechnical selectionism—which can be regarded as also including (mild) constructivist theories as special cases. Greater understanding of, respect for, and engagement with technological determinism will enhance the study of technology and our ability to shape our sociotechnical systems.
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Technological determinism began to fall out of fashion in the 1980s due to the adoption of constructivist theories among sociologists of science, who argued that technological development should be seen as a human-controlled activity.
“Technological determinism began to fall out of fashion in the 1980s due to the adoption of constructivist theories among sociologists of science, who argued that technological development should be seen as a human-controlled activity where human actors and institutions have agency over its creation and use (Dafoe 2015;Ropohl 1983).”
From Transcending Binaries of Agency through Librarians’ Discursive Constructions of AI (2025) · cites this paper as Dafoe 2015
Models of agency generally fall into two opposing paradigms: technological determinism and social constructivism.
“These models of agency generally fall into two opposing paradigms: technological determinism, which positions technology as having more agency than humans over the trajectory of human history, and social constructivism, which views humans as the primary agents over this trajectory (Dafoe 2015).”
From Transcending Binaries of Agency through Librarians’ Discursive Constructions of AI (2025) · cites this paper as Dafoe 2015
Dafoe positions technological determinism and social constructivism as either end of a spectrum, inviting consideration of to what extent, in what ways, and under what scope conditions particular technologies are more autonomous and powerful in shaping society.
“In his attempt to reclaim the terms, Dafoe positions technological determinism and social constructivism as either ends of a spectrum that invites consideration of”
From Transcending Binaries of Agency through Librarians’ Discursive Constructions of AI (2025) · cites this paper as Dafoe 2015
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Not By Genes Alone: How Culture Transformed Human Evolution
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D<scp>arwin's</scp> D<scp>angerous</scp> I<scp>dea</scp>
DENNETT, D. C. (1995) · The Sciences · doi:10.1002/j.2326-1951.1995.tb03633.x · Cited by 1,975 · see citing works
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Georgieva, I., Lazo, C., Timan, T., & van Veenstra, A. F. (2022) · AI and Ethics · doi:10.1007/s43681-021-00127-3 · Cited by 89 · see citing works
Transcending Binaries of Agency through Librarians’ Discursive Constructions of AI
Appedu, S., & Tacheva, J. (2025) · Library Trends · doi:10.1353/lib.2025.a961342 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Artificial moral agents: should machines take ethical responsibility?
Reiter, P., Norman, U., Weinberger, N., & Bruno, B. (2025) · 2025 IEEE International Conference on Advanced Robotics and its Social Impacts (ARSO) · doi:10.1109/arso64737.2025.11124921 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
- Authors
- Dafoe, A.
- Affiliations
- Yale University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Dafoe, Allan
- ORCID
- Dafoe, Allan
- Venue
- Science, Technology, & Human Values
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2015-04-14
- Volume
- 40
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 1047-1076
- ISSN
- 0162-2439 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-8251
- OpenAlex
- W2122651256
- Cited by
- 221
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 17 · 2025: 45 · 2024: 43 · 2023: 25 · 2022: 36 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 3
- FWCI
- 17.69
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Science Technology & Human Values (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Information Systems Theories and Implementation
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Cybernetics and Technology in Society
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Innovation, Technology, and Society
- Keywords
- technological determinism, concept of technology, social shaping of technology, constructivism, scale of analysis, technology and society
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