A Historical Materialist Approach to Technological Power in International Relations

The discussion in the previous chapter highlighted some of the problems in current International Relations (IR) approaches to technology as a form of power in global politics. Technological instrumentalists and essentialists bracket the social construction of technology and the power relations that surround its creation and maintenance, reifying a relatively contingent order as natural. They share an underlying determinist conception of technology and, as a result, do not adequately conceptualize how technology functions as a form of power in global politics. Theories influenced by Social Construction of Technology approaches overcome the limitations of determinist work and represent a significant advance for IR Theory; this chapter will elaborate their implicit conception of technology as a form of institutional power. However, SCOT approaches neglect the centrality of structural power relations and wider forms of social power in shaping technological design. Moreover, these approaches do not theoretically account for the significance of ‘the International’ in creating the conditions necessary for this form of institutional power to operate. This chapter will develop an alternative theoretical perspective to address these issues.