Social Shaping Reviewd: Research Concepts and Findings in the UK

This paper reviews the body of research that addresses 'the social shaping of technology' (SST). By this phrase we refer to the range of factors - organisational, political, economic and cultural - which pattern the design and implementation of technology. The paper highlights the growth of socio-economic research into the content of technology and the process of innovation (in contrast to that work which is merely concerned with its outcomes). The paper therefore adopts a very broad definition of SST, without implying a particular consensual 'orthodoxy', clear boundaries, or claims of ownership to the field. As we hope to show, much of the strength in this area lies in the very diversity of work which it encompasses. Our main focus is on Britain, although SST has emerged to an important extent through international discussion. In the first main section of this paper, we outline the intellectual origins of the field. In the second section, we sketch an emerging model of social shaping. In the third, we describe some of the intellectual dilemmas in the field. In the final section, we review some empirical findings, particularly in relation to Information Technologies, and comment on likely future developments.