Describe at least three of the text’s themes or topics that are of general interest to STS scholars.

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May 1, 2019
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'1-800-worlds' is empirical proof of how science and technology significantly changed the class patterns of society to social imagination about labour and work. Beyond the exaggerations, the call centre economy paved a new economy which is based on 'flexibility' and it shook the basic ideas behind the Indian conventional thinking. For example, it redefined the culture of youth. According to the author, this book is a recreation of her nostalgic experience's comparison with technologically motivated, fast-moving society. she thinks   about how a society which defined the class differences based on either indifference or compulsion to do a job by an 18-year-old or undergraduate was redefined by a generation who was eager to do 'nocturnal' call centre job as fun and adventure and questions back their parents about their 'right' to earn in defence to parents offer of we will take care of everything '.

 

1) Flexible economy: the author made the first attempt to understand the call centre economy and its ideology of flexibility through understanding the various technological innovations that led to globalization and its related social reordering.  The author argues that technological innovations that happened during dot com boom and internet networking were critical in defining the neoliberal flexible service-based economy. She clearly points out that 'flexibility' is an achievement only accessed through different kinds of networks which later influenced the social global order.

2)  Education, youth culture and Sts: mathangi Krishnamurthy’s approach towards understanding the Indian call centre economy was not merely based on political economy and its social consequences. Even though she criticizes the aspiration of anthropologists in regard to holistic understanding, she talks about various dimensions of social life that are rearranged and reorganised in relation to call centre sociability. she states that " the Indian call centre  economy is also entrenched within a fragmented trajectory of state-led technological development and educational policy in India (chakravartty2004,pitroda1993), and I argue, a manifestation of what ashis Nandy has called  the post-independence predilection to 'spectacular technology (Nandy,1988)." it gives a great opportunity for upcoming scholars to understand the correlation between  science and technology along with flexible economy, especially that emerged from technologically mediated IT-enabled services.

3) Society, political economy and flexibility:  the important contribution given by book towards Sts Discourse is twofold.  One is understanding how the political economy of a society is determined by the flow of data and how networking redefined the economic transactions in both global and local level via fast technological innovations in the field of IT and ITES. The second is understanding how this technological innovations and so-called scientific progress are reciprocally redefining its own by-product, the flexibility. The author calls this dialectical relationship as one of the complex phenomenon, which is crucial in understanding the new social order after globalization, privatization and liberalization, in the context of rapidly growing technology and artefacts.

 

February 17, 2019

Technological consequences:  the very essence of studying technology emerged from the far outcry to stop the technological monster. In the early phase and still, some believed that technology is out of control or technology is determining your life. Upon this perception, the scholars started to scrutinise the technology itself rather than considering it as a component bigger social structure such as capitalism.  Later this emphasis misleads to mere unpacking of the 'black box of technology'. Winner criticizes that escape of 'consequence of technology' from scrutiny is the biggest mistake and it should be equally investigated with more emphasis. His contribution is a navigator for upcoming scholars.

 

 The black box of technology: even though winner criticizes the complete focus on unpacking the black box of technology, he agrees with the basic assumption that it is the need of the hour to understand what socially and culturally determines and constitutes the technological innovations and artefacts. The serious debates and response papers popularise this kind of concepts and make better clarity.

February 16, 2019

 The debate between Bijker, Pinch and Russell give new insights upon participation, democracy, the social structure in the design, production and consumption of artefacts and technology in the field of STS. Russell also helps us to navigate the ' labour process theory ' as a new tool in understanding technology. along the lines of Marxist tradition, he alarms us with the question that who are the real beneficiaries of technology and who are neglected. his criticism upon the evolutionary approach of SCOT as something superficial understanding of technology reminds us to explore more for a better understanding of technology rather than describing it.

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