Technology Between Liberation and Domination

Session Submission Type: In-Person Created Panel

Session Description

This panel investigates the possibilities and dangers of science and technology in and for contemporary democratic societies. The papers pose a series of questions that may now be unavoidable: How can democratic societies respond to climate models that warn of future catastrophe? Does the rise of algorithmic decision making oppress or liberate democratic citizens? And can we rescue a modicum of optimism from the techno-pessimism that marked prominent 20th-century social and political theories?

Sub Unit

• Division 2: Foundations of Political Theory

Individual Presentations

• Computer Modeling, Climate Prophecy, and Public Faith in Science - Alexandra Catherine Neame, Reed College

• Matter, History, Critique: Engels After Frankfurt - Matthew Shafer, Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Democracy, University of Pennsylvania

• Accomodationist or Socialist Institutions? Trade Unions and Machine Production - Peter Giraudo, Princeton University

Chair

• Jennifer Forestal Loyola University, Chicago

Discussant

• Jennifer Forestal Loyola University, Chicago