Feminism Confronts Technology by Judy Wajcman

Digital time is no different – ultimately it needs to be understood as a product of the ways in which humans use, interact with, and indeed build technology. The contemporary imperative of speed is as much a cultural artifact as it is a technological one.

If we feel pressed for time today, it is not because of technology per se, but because of the priorities and parameters we ourselves set. But the book critiques the idea that digital technologies are inexorable driving acceleration of everyday life.

That we live in an acceleration society, constantly feeling rushed and pressed for time. So page 99 does give the reader a sense of the broader themes of the book: our perception that the pace of life is faster than it used to be and that digital gadgets are to blame. The fact that we feel the need to respond to email quickly is not due to the speed of data transmission, but because of collective norms that have built up about appropriate response times. For example, I argue that email and information overload have become symbolic of work stress. You learn later in the chapter that while most communication is now mediated by technologies, it is not the technology itself that dictates the pace of work. But it is only in subsequent pages that I build an argument about the relationship between technology and how we interpret and use it. On page 99 there is a Table showing that the average duration of work episodes during the day is just under three minutes. That is, how having 24/7 communication via mobile phones and the Internet affects how work is organised and performed. It introduces a study I conducted on how multimodal digital connectivity affects knowledge workers. She applied the “ Test” to her latest book, Pressed for Time: The Acceleration of Life in Digital Capitalism, and reported the following: does contain one of the major themes of my book, but only narrowly.

She is the author of several books on technology and culture, such as The Social Shaping of Technology, Feminism Confronts Technology and TechnoFeminism.

Judy Wajcman is the Anthony Giddens Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Feminism Confronts Technology by Judy Wajcman