内禀政治性技术:对温纳旧概念的新释

Inherently Political Technologies: Two New Interpretations of Langdon Winner’s Old Concept

温纳所界定的内禀政治性技术概念面临争议;但借"旧瓶"以装"新酒",我们可在至少两种不同于温纳所给的意义上重新阐发技术的内禀政治性:其一,技术是赋权者,其引入使用一定会引起潜在人际权力均势的变化,进而引发政治空间的变动;其二,某些技术是某种政治关系得以维系的必要条件,从而同类但更低阶的无法支撑这种政治关系的其它技术,就排斥着此政治关系及其体现的价值。这两种更基础更可靠的新阐释,更好捕捉了技术内蕴的政治价值属性。

Winner’s construal of inherently political technologies is controversial;however,we could develop two new interpretations of the concept:first,technologies empower their controllers;the introduction of a new technology tilts the balance of the distribution of interpersonal power and thus effects change in the political space;second,some technologies constitute the sine qua non of some political relationship;lower-rank technologies unable to sustain the relationship are thus incompatible with the values embodied in the latter.The two more fundamental and more valid interpretations better capture the political entailments of technology.