Jon Clark’s study of the effect of
the modernization of a telephone
exchange on exchange maintenance
Line work and workers is a solid contribution
(5) to a debate that encompasses two
lively issues in the history and social-
ogy of technology: technological
determinism and social constructivism.
Clark makes the point that the char-
(10) acteristics of a technology have a
decisive influence on job skills and
work organization. Put more strongly,
（Q28）technology can be a primary determi-
nant of social and managerial organ-
(15) ization. Clark believes this possibility
has been obscured by the recent soci-
ological fashion, exemplified by
Braverman’s analysis, that emphasizes
the way machinery reflects social
(20) choices. For Braverman, the shape of
a technological system is subordinate
to the manager’s desire to wrest control
of the labor process from the
workers. Technological change is
(25) construed as the outcome of negotiations
among interested parties who
seek to incorporate their own interests
into the design and configuration of the
machinery. This position represents
(30) the new mainstream called social con-
structivism.
The constructivists gain acceptance
by misrepresenting technological deter-
minism: technological determinists are
(35) supposed to believe, for example, that
machinery imposes appropriate forms
of order on society. The alternative to
constructivism, in other words, is to
view technology as existing outside
(40) society, capable of directly influencing
skills and work organization.
Clark refutes the extremes of the
constructivists by both theoretical and
empirical arguments. Theoretically he
(45) defines “technology” in terms of relationships
between social and technical
variables. Attempts to reduce the
meaning of technology to cold, hard
metal are bound to fail, for machinery
(50) is just scrap unless it is organized
functionally and supported by approp-
riate systems of operation and main-
tenance. At the empirical level Clark
shows how a change at the telephone
(55) exchange from maintenance-intensive
electromechanical switches to semi-
electronic switching systems altered
work tasks, skills, training opportunities,
administration, and organization of
(60) workers. Some changes Clark attri-
butes to the particular way management
and labor unions negotiated the intro-
duction of the technology, whereas
others are seen as arising from the
(65) capabilities and nature of the technol-
ogy itself. Thus Clark helps answer
the question: “When is social choice
decisive and when are the concrete
characteristics of technology more
important?”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GWD-8-Q25 :
The primary purpose of the passage is to
A advocate a more positive attitude toward technological change
B discuss the implications for employees of the modernization of a telephone exchange
C consider a successful challenge to the constructivist view of technological change
D challenge the position of advocates of technological determinism
E suggest that the social causes of technological change should be studied in real situations
答案是C，我认为是A。请大家指点
| 
