Commented University Calendar

Sociology of the Internet

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Instructor:

Prof. Dr. Gabriele Winker

Course Format:

2 hours Seminar

Period:

Winter Semester

Language:

German

Contents:

It has been widely accepted within the sociology of the technology that technology is socially constructed, formed and negotiated. According to this understanding, the different artefacts of the Internet are not only open to differing ways of use; their technical construction is also not limited to a single correct form. At the same time, technological artefacts such as the Internet certainly do have a powerful effect on everyday life. The subject of the seminar is to analyze the co-construction of gender and technology in theory and practice, exemplified by the case of the Internet. The first step is to analyse the emergence, spread and use of the Internet. The second step is to examine different fields of application with their specific online forms. Examples from the e-commerce and e-government sectors, online learning and online advice-giving, political online communities and computer games will be under examination, among others.

Learning Outcomes:

  • Knowledge of the history and background of the Internet
  • Understanding the development of the Internet as a result of processes of negotiation and conflicts
  • Realising the societal implications of the Internet
  • Knowledge of how societal activists do and can shape this technology
  • Understanding the theoretical concepts of the Science and Technology Studies (STS) and the Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) approach
  • Applying the Actor Network Theory to the Internet and seeing its "constructors" and its "users" as interacting actants

Reading Resources:

  • Bijker, Wiebe E. ; Law, John (eds.): Shaping Technology - Building Society. Studies in Sociotechnical Change. Cambridge, London, 1992
  • Döring, Nicola: Sozialpsychologie des Internet. Die Bedeutung des Internet für Kommunikationsprozesse, Identitäten, soziale Beziehungen und Gruppen. 2., vollständig überarb. und erw. Aufl., Göttingen, 2003
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  • Latour, Bruno: We have never been modern. 5th pr., Harlow, Essex, 2000
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  • Norris, Pippa: Digital Divide. Civic Engagement, Information Poverty, and the Internet Worldwide. Cambridge, 2001
  • Oudshoorn, Nelly; Pinch, Trevor (eds.): How Users Matter. The Co-Construction of Users and Technologies. Cambridge, London, 2003
  • Wellman, Barry; Haythornthwaite, Caroline (eds.): The Internet in Everyday Life. Oxford, 2002

Performance Record: