gwd 8 Q27

Jon Clark’s study of the effect of

the modernization of a telephone

exchange on exchange maintenance

work and workers is a solid contribution

(5) to a debate that encompasses two

lively issues in the history and sociology of technology: technological

determinism and social constructivism.

Clark makes the point that the char-

(10) acteristics of a technology have a

decisive influence on job skills and

work organization. Put more strongly,

technology can be a primary determinant

of social and managerial organ-

(15) ization. Clark believes this possibility

has been obscured by the recent sociological

fashion, exemplified by

Braverman’s analysis, that emphasizes

the way machinery reflects social

(20) choices. For Braverman, the shape of

a technological system is subordinate

to the manager’s desire to wrest control

of the labor process from the

workers. Technological change is

(25) construed as the outcome of negotiations

among interested parties who

seek to incorporate their own interests

into the design and configuration of the

machinery. This position represents

(30) the new mainstream called social constructivism.

The constructivists gain acceptance

by misrepresenting technological determinism:

technological determinists are

(35) supposed to believe, for example, that

machinery imposes appropriate forms

of order on society. The alternative to

constructivism, in other words, is to

view technology as existing outside

(40) society, capable of directly influencing

skills and work organization.

Clark refutes the extremes of the

constructivists by both theoretical and

empirical arguments. Theoretically he

(45) defines “technology” in terms of relationships

between social and technical

variables. Attempts to reduce the

meaning of technology to cold, hard

metal are bound to fail, for machinery

(50) is just scrap unless it is organized

functionally and supported by appropriate

systems of operation and maintenance.
At the empirical level Clark

shows how a change at the telephone

(55) exchange from maintenance-intensive

electromechanical switches to semielectronic

switching systems altered

work tasks, skills, training opportunities,

administration, and organization of

(60) workers. Some changes Clark attributes

to the particular way management

and labor unions negotiated the introduction

of the technology, whereas

others are seen as arising from the

(65) capabilities and nature of the technology

itself. Thus Clark helps answer

the question: “When is social choice

decisive and when are the concrete

characteristics of technology more

important?”

ng from the

Q27:

The author of the passage uses the expression “are supposed to” in lines 34-35 primarily in order to

A. suggest that a contention made by constructivists regarding determinists is inaccurate

B. define the generally accepted position of determinists regarding the implementation of technology

C. engage in speculation about the motivations of determinists

D. lend support to a comment critical of the position of determinists

E. contrast the historical position of determinists with their position regarding the exchange modernization

Answer is B. but I choose A,
because it said that :

The constructivists gain acceptance

by misrepresenting technological determinism:

technological determinists are

(35) supposed to believe, for example, that

machinery imposes appropriate forms

of order on society.

It is constructivists suppose that determinists believe that... ,while this assumption is misrepresentative.

Who can explain why the answer is B?