CROSSROADS IN CULTURAL STUDIES
Fourth International Conference
June 29 - July 2, 2002, Tampere, Finland

Cultural Studies on the Technology in Use

Organiser: Ilkka Arminen

Harrasser, Karin (University of Vienna, Austria) TRANSFORMING DISCOURSE INTO PRACTICE. RHETORICS AND NARRATIVES OF DIGITIZATION IN THE 80IES
While mediatheorists (from McLuhan to Baudrillard and Virilio) focused on the "derealisating" effect of the "New Media", researchers in the field of Science and Technology Studies concentrated on the close interactions between machines, researchers and users. Actor-Network-Theory (Bruno Latour and others) theorizes these interactions as "negotiations between humans and non-humans", making little substantial difference among the two, but adressing these relations as power relations. The discourse of "derealisation" whereras more and more appears as an apocalyptic, phantasmatic one, grounded by the long-known cultural pessimism of intellectuals, which fear to loose influence in the field of culture, as the production and circulation of the symbolic shifts from their hands and heads to the quick fingers of programmers and laities. In my research project I focus on the discourse of digitization in the 80ies, trying to find out how rhetorics and narratives concerning the issue of computing were tranformed into practices (of research, marketing and use) and real machines. Methodologically I try to modulate central ideas of Actor-Network-Theory for the Cultural Studies of Media and Technology.

Pyöriä, Pasi (University of Tampere, Finland) THE IMPORTANCE OF INFORMAL ORGANIZATION CULTURE: THE CASE OF FINNISH KNOWLEDGE WORKERS
It is a well-established fact that working life and work organizations are in a constant state of change. New technological innovations, the growth of information-based economy and globalisation are transforming the very essence of our material and cultural environment. However, the most basic prerequisites of organizing work and building healthy and supportive work environments have not changed much, if at all, despite of rapid technological development. In short, the main thesis of my presentation is that informal organization culture still is the foundation of well-designed work places. As my empirical fieldwork in the context of Finnish "knowledge workers" indicates the use of the latest technology always comes second to good team spirit and skilful management. In my paper I make use of my experience from conducting both quantitative and qualitative studies among Finnish wage earning population.

Aro, Jari (University of Tampere, Finland) EXPERTISE, COMPETENCE AND ADOPTION OF TECHNOLOGY
This paper presents some findings from a research project where the aim is to study how expertise is socially constructed in relation to technology and how technology is socially adopted. The research object is competence, which is studied from two perspectives: from the viewpoint of development of technology and from the viewpoint of using technology. Research is based on qualitative interview data. Research case is Finland. Usually the relation between humans and machines is described by using the concept of needs. Needs, however, are an abstract and theoretical way to comprehend the dynamics between a person and a technical device. This research suggests that more interesting interpretations of that relation can be found by concentrating on the actual process of using technology, since that is the process where technology is being adopted and learned. For the users the process of adopting technology is at the same time also a process of gaining expertise of that technology. The user's expertise is an essential component in the whole social process of constructing the meaning of technology. Consumers are creative in relation to technology, they find new and surprising ways to use technical devices and they evaluate new products collectively and socially and mould them into parts of their
particular practises. This paper examines user experiences of information and communication technology in the context of everyday life. The analysis concentrates especially on the process of adopting new technology into everyday use and the ways people acquire competence in relation to technology. The paper approaches following questions: How do people evaluate their own, and other
persons' competence in relation to technology? What are the social processes as persons are defined and redefined as competent in relation to technology? What differences there are in this respect between diverse types of new technology?