The design of our own lives Technical mediation and subjectivation after Foucault

185 Pages·2012·2.87 MB·English

The design of our own lives is about how technology guides and changes us. The book brings
together converging trends in design theory and philosophy of technology concerning
the mutual adaptation of technologies and humans. The aim is to contribute to the under-
standing of the impact of technology on us, to consider how this knowledge can be applied
in design practice, as well as to discuss ethical questions about behavior guiding design.
The book begins by discussing the themes of user guiding and changing technology in
relation to design for usability. Next, the project is compared to the tradition of socially
engaged and utopian design. The central part sets out philosophical and ethical research on
the interrelations between humans and technology.
The work of the French philosopher Michel Foucault is of key importance to this study
and is used for elaborating a framework of ‘technical mediation and subjectivation’. In
this approach, technology is not set in opposition to human freedom and morality; rather
coping with the infl uences of technology is seen as part of becoming a moral subject.
The ethics of technology developed after Foucault focuses on care for the quality of our
interactions and fusions with technology. Hybridization is central to the approach: it is not
to be rejected, neither is it the greatest danger, but it does deserve the greatest care. We are
called upon to care for the design of our own lives.
The book contains a variety of examples. A case study about the RFID public transport
e–paying system in the Netherlands (OV chip card), for instance, serves to illustrate how
social and ethical aspects — from usability to privacy and security issues — can be assessed
from the perspective of product impact on users.
Steven Dorrestijn (born 1977, Netherlands) graduated in Philosophy of Science, Technology
and Society at the University of Twente in 2004. He also followed a two–year program in
mechanical engineering and courses on the history of design. In 2005–2006 Dorrestijn
studied philosophy in Paris with the support of a grant from the French Government. This Steven Dorrestijn
PhD research was conducted at the University of Twente, Netherlands, from 2007 until
2012.
The design of our own lives
ISBN 978-90-36534-42-0
Technical mediation and subjectivation
ISBN 978–90–365–3442–0 after Foucault
9 789036 534420
The design of our own lives Technical mediation and subjectivation after Foucault Steven Dorrestijn
The design of our own lives
Technical mediation and subjectivation after Foucault
The design of our own lives
Technical mediaTion and subjecTivaTion afTer foucaulT
disserTaTion

to obtain the degree of doctor at the Univerity of Twente,
on the authority of the rector magnifcus, Prof. dr. H. Brinksma,
on account of the decision of the graduation committee,
to be publicly defended on Wednesday the 10th of October 2012 at 14:45 hrs
by
Steven Dorrestijn,
born on 26th of July 1977
in Wisch, Netherlands
This dissertation has been approved by promotor and assistant promotor:

Prof.dr.ir. P.P.C.C. Verbeek and Prof.dr. H.J. Achterhuis
© Steven Dorrestijn, 2012
ISBN: 978–90–365–3442–0
The design of our own lives
Technical mediation and subjectivation
after foucault
Steven Dorrestijn
University of Twente · PhD Thesis
October 2012
Promotion Committee:
Prof.dr. H. Procee (chairman, University of Twente)
Prof.dr.ir. P.P.C.C. Verbeek (promoter, University of Twente)
Prof.dr. H.J. Achterhuis (ass. promoter, University of Twente)
Prof.dr. J.–P. Warnier (Centre d’Etudes africaines, EHESS–IRD, Paris, France)
Prof.dr. H. Kunneman (University of Humanistic Studies)
Prof.dr. J.W. Drukker (University of Twente)
Prof.ir. D. van Eijk (Technical University Delft)
Prof.dr. P.J.H. Kockelkoren (University of Twente)
Prof.dr. P.A.E. Brey (University of Twente)
This research was made possible by the support of the Innovation–Oriented Research
Program ‘Integrated Product Creation and Realization (IOP IPCR)’ of the Netherlands
Ministry of Economic Afairs, Agriculture and Innovation.
The printing of this thesis has been fnancially supported by the Netherlands Graduate
School of Science, Technology and Modern Culture (WTMC) and by the University of
Twente Philosophy department.
Printed by Wöhrmann Print Service, Zutphen, Netherlands.
Cover image: Building Blocks 1997, copyright © Kumi Yamashita.
Author photo by Agnes Booijink, Hengelo (O.), Netherlands.
Bookdesign: Bert Vanderveen BNO, Enschede, Netherlands.
© 2012 Steven Dorrestijn.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without prior written permission
of the author.
Dedicated to my parents
Contents
Acknowledgments 13
Chapter 1 · Product impact, usability and ethics 15
1 Introduction 15
2 How technology guides and changes humans: The telephone 17
3 Usability in design theory 19
3.1 Narrow and broad defnitions of usability 19
3.2 The difusion and accommodation of technology 20
4 Design for guiding and changing users 21
4.1 Moralizing technology 21
4.2 The problem of human freedom 22
4.3 The problem of too much convenience 22
5 Product impact, usability, and socially engaged design 23
6 Thesis outline 24
Chapter 2 · The legacy of utopian design: History of social engagement in design 25
1 Introduction 25
1.1 Social engagement in design 26
1.2 History of design 26
1.3 Technology and utopia/dystopia 27
2 Utopian social engineering 29
2.1 Technical utopia’s: New Atlantis, Benthamism, Saint–Simonism 29
2.2 Regimes of engineering and government 31
2.3 The revolution of the engineers 31
2.4 Technocratic government: Rise and fall 32
2.5 From paternalism to participation 33
3 Utopian design movements 33
3.1 Arts and Crafts 34
3.2 New Objectivity 35
3.3 Gute Form 37
3.4 Postmodernism 38
4 The legacy of utopian design 39
4.1 Between revolution and usability 40
4.2 The need for a philosophy of technical mediation 41
4.3 The legacy of utopian design: The design of our own lives 42
Chapter 3 · Technical mediation and subjectivation:
Philosophy of technology after Foucault 43
1 Introduction 43
2 Michel Foucault 45
3 Foucault and technology 47
3.1 Foucault’s technology: Words and things 47
contents 9