Technosociology

Technosociology is an interdisciplinary field that analyzes the mutual shaping of technology and society. It treats technological artifacts and systems not as mere tools but as social products embedded in political, economic, cultural, and ethical contexts. Technosociology investigates how social factors—such as power relations, institutions, markets, norms, and identities—influence the development, adoption, regulation, and distribution of technologies, and how technologies reorganize social life, institutions, work, communication, and knowledge production.

The approach overlaps with science and technology studies and the sociology of technology, drawing on theories such as the social construction of technology and actor-network theory. Researchers examine topics including digital infrastructures, automation and AI, data governance, surveillance, platform economies, and the social implications of new media.

Methodologies are diverse, including qualitative case studies, ethnography, interviews, discourse and policy analysis, and comparative studies. The field often emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration with design, engineering, information science, and public policy.

Applications include technology assessment, governance and policy analysis, ethical and inclusive design, and evaluation of technology’s social impacts, including issues of equity, access, and inclusivity.

Critiques of technosociology focus on debates about determinism, measurement challenges, and the risk of overemphasizing social causation at the expense of technical constraints. Overall, technosociology seeks to illuminate how technology and society co-construct each other in contemporary life.