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The "deconstruction" of deterministic models of development
We have pointed out that it is necessary to "deconstruct" the deterministic models of development that we discussed earlier. All of these models imply that technology and industrial changes have an impact on social life and on the implementation of human rights. In terms of figure 1, downstream activities can have only weak effects on upstream activities. This limits the debate on technology and human rights to:
(1) questions related to the protection of individuals and groups against the impact of industrialism; and
(2) assumptions concerning the positive contribution of industrial development as such to individual freedom by breaking traditional bonds.
This "deconstruction," as a necessary method for breaking through these limitations, is achieved by a theoretical analysis of models of development. Clearly this is not enough, because the Enlightenment model of development and related models are, as we have shown, very resistant to theoretical attacks because of their ideological nature. A good strategy to attack the "impact model" is systematically to analyse all the links between the variables of the model (see figure 1), to use research results showing the degrees of variability, especially of upstream factors, and to engage in this type of research where data are lacking. The weakening of the "impact model" opens the road to another type of debate on human rights and technology, for example, on human rights as normative standards to be used when questions relating to choice arise.
However, it is important to note that the road between deterministic models and voluntaristic approaches is a narrow one. When we take this narrow road we have the obligation to engage in systematic, thorough analysis of the nature of the social, cultural, and technological constraints that will be encountered in specific situations, to indicate as exactly as possible opportunities for choice and the ways in which these can be used.
A promising direction for achieving this end has been outlined by Boudon, whose model seems to fit our task. It is suitable because it concentrates on the rational decisions of actors within systems of interdependencies. At the same time it extends the concept of rationality, permitting an interpretation of situations by the actors by deconstructing the concept of structure that plays such a prominent role in the deterministic models and by giving due consideration to the role of chance in processes of development.56 There will certainly be other roads leading to a solution of these problems, some of which may prove to be successful within specific cultural and social contexts.
A major element in the course of action we have outlined in the preceding sections will be education. In the first place, education has to enlighten people with respect to consequences of the use of "deterministic" models of development. In the second place, education has to show the links between policies based on these models and human rights. This analysis of the relationship between those types of policies and their impact on human rights has to be part of both general advanced studies and professional training in "upstream" and "downstream" areas. This task cannot be left to the "upstream" interest groups, because they are too strongly embedded in the Enlightenment model of development.
Confronted with this problem, Nakayama suggests the development of a service science. As we cannot expect much from academic science as a counter-balance to the menace of incorporated industrial and defence science, we must inevitably turn to another kind of enlightenment, he remarks, namely that of service science. He suggests that the structure of this science could be rather simple, as it would involve exposing problems, solving problems, and, finally, assessment by the people. He connects this idea to the Rights of the Ignorant. Access to scientific information should, in principle, be fully guaranteed. But this right should go together with the human right not to know specific scientific facts but still not be at a disadvantage because of such ignorance.57
Finally. there are some strong arguments for changing organizations in such a way that jobs are enriched with more elements of a "learning to learn" strategy that may contribute to an improved use of "human capital" and to an increased respect for human dignity (see pp. 25-27). The next generations must be trained in these domains in such a way that they will be in a better position than we are to understand the problems of development and choice. They must be able to organize research in these domains, not only restricted to sub-themes but also oriented towards a better understanding of global interdependencies. Such interdependencies result from the evolution of a new technological system, the characteristic features of which arc, in comparison with all previous technological systems, "a much greater complexity of conception, closer linkages with scientific institutions, greater capital intensity, more diversified location of production, greater in application and uses, more rapid achievement of global development and world markets.'' 58
1. La declaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen (1789). Article 1. Les hommes naissent et demeurent libres et égaux en droits; les destinations sociales ne peuvent être fondées que sur l'utilité commune. Article 2. Le but de toute association politique est la conservation des droits naturels et imprescriptibles de l'homme; ces droits vent la liberté, la propriété, la sûreté et la réesistance à l'oppression.
2 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, The International Bill of Human Rights (United Nations, New York, 197X), p. 5.
3. C.G. Weeramantry, ea., Human Rights and Scientific and Technological Development (United Nations University, Tokyo, 1990), p. 1.
4. Weeramantry (note 3 above), pp. 2-3.
5. The positive consequences of technological development are also emphasized by Sadako Ogata, "United Nations Approaches to Human Rights and Scientific and Technological Developments" in Weeramantry (note 3 above).
6. C.G. Weeramantry, The Slumbering Sentinels - Law and Human Rights in the Wake of Technology (Penguin, 1983), p. xi.
7. P. Alcorn, Social Issues in Technology - A Format for Investigation (Prentice-Hall, Englewood-Ciffs, N.J., 1986), p. 218.
8. B. Joerges, "Technology in Everyday Lit-e: Conceptual Queries," Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, vol. 18, no. 2 (1988): 22.
9. D. MacKenzie and J. Wajcman, "Introductory Essay," in 1). MacKenzie and J. Wajcman, ea., The Social Shaping of Technology - How the Refrigerator Cot Its Hum (Open University Press, Milton Keynes/Philadelphia, Pa., 1985), pp. 3-4.
10. D. Bell, 'Fine Coming of Post-industrial Society - A Venture in Social forecasting (Basic Books, New York, 1976), p. 20.
11. Bell (note 10 above), p. 28.
12. S. Hill, Competition and Control at Work - The New Industrial Sociology (Heinemann Educational Books, London, 1981), p. 86.
13. J. Habermas, "Technical Progress and the Social-life World," in J. Habermas, cd., Toward a Rational Society - Student Protest, Science and Politics, trans. G.J.J. Shapiro (Heinemann, London, 1971), p. 57.
14. As cited by J.H.J. van der Pot in his Die Bewertung des technischen Fortschritts. Eine systematische Übersicht der Theorien, vol. I (Van Gorcum, Assen-Maastricht, 1985), p. 36.
15. Van der Pot (note 14 above), p. 37.
16. M. Weber, Wirtschaftsgeschichte. Abriss der universalen Sozial und Wirtschaftsgeschichte Duncker & Humblot, 1923), p. 307 ff
17. Van der Pot (note 14 above), p. 60.
18. Van der Pot (note 14 above), p. 64.
19. E.J. Dijksterhuis, De mechanisering van het wereldbeeld (Meulenhoff, Amsterdam, 1980).
20. M. Weber, "Vorbemerkung zu den Gesammelten Aufsätzen zur Religions- Soziologie," in M. Weber, Soziologie. Weltgeschichtliche Analysen. Politik. (Alfred Kröner Verlag, Stuttgart, 1968), p. 340 "Nur im Okzident gibt es 'Wissenschaft' in dem Entwicklungsstadium, welches wir heute als 'gültig' anerkennen." Weber here refers to the mathematical basis of science, the rational proof of statements, systematic empirical bases, systematic classification of law, rational organization.
21. A.O. Herrera, "Science, Technology and Human Rights: A Prospective View," in Weeramantry (note 3 above), chap. 2.
22. S.N. Eisenstadt, Revolution and the Transformation of Societies. A Comparative Study of Civilisations (The Free Press, New York, 1978), p. 178.
23. L. Dumont, Essais sur l'individualisme. Une perspective anthropologique (Editions du Seuil, Paris, 1983), p. 102.
24. P.A. Sorokin, Social and Cultural Mobility (The Free Press of Glencoe, New York, 1964), p. 542.
25. T. Campbell, "The Rights of the Mentally 111," in T. Campbell, D. Goldberg, S. McLean, and T. Mulem, eds., Human Rights. From Rhetoric to Reality (Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 1986), p. 126.
26. G. Haarscher, Philosophie des droits de l'homme (Editions de l'Université de Bruxelles, 1987), p. 21. The analysis of the interrelations between the development of industrial society and human rights has been further pursued in: J. Berting. "Gesellschaftliche Entwicklung, Menschenrechte und Rechte der Völker," in H. H. Holz et al. , eds. , "Die Rechte der Menschen," Dialektik- Beitrag zu Philosophie und Wissenschaften, 13 (Pahl-Rugenstein Verlag, Cologne, 1987), pp. 81-106; and J. Berting, "Societal Change, Human Rights and the Welfare State in Europe, " in J. Berting et al., Human Rights in a Pluralist WorldIndividuals and Collectivities (Meckler, Westport, Conn., 1990).
27. J. Berting, "The Goals of Development in Developed Countries," Goals of Development (Unesco, Paris, 1988), pp. 140-181.
28. C. Kerr, The Future of Industrial Societies - Convergence or Continuing Diversity (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass./London, 1983), p. 18.
29. Kerr (note 28 above), p. 44.
30. J.W. Murphy and).T. Pardeck, Introduction to J.W. Murphy end d. Pardeck, eds., Technology and Human Productivity - Challenges for the Future (Quorum Books, New York, 1986), p. xv.
31. J. Ellul, The Technological Society (Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1965), p. 74.
32. C. Calhoun, The Question of Class Struggle - Social Foundations of Popular Radicalism during the Industrial Revolution (Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 1982).
33. A. Schaff, "Frontiers of Science and Technology. Vision and Direction of the Future," in ). Berting et al., The Socio-economic Impact of Micro-electronics (Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1980), p. 61.
34. E.G. Herder, "Une autre philosophic de l'histoire (1774)" and "Ideen zu einer Philosophie der Geschichte der Menschheit (1784)." See also F. Jonas, Ceschichte der Soziologie (Rowohlt Taschenbuch, 1968) and "Gesellschaftslchre des deutschen Idealismus", vol. I, pp. 119- 173.
35. R. Bendix, Force, Fate and Freedom - On Historical History (University of California Press, Berkeley/Los Angeles/London, 1984), p. 8.
36. J. Berting, "Structures, Actors and Choices," in J. Klabbers et al., Simulation and Caming: On the Improvement of Competence in Dealing with Complexity, Uncertainty and
Value Conflicts Press, Oxford, 1989), pp. 8-23.
37. A. Johnston and A. Sasson, eds., New Technologies and Development: Science and Technology as Factors of Change: Impact of Recent and Foreseeable Scientific and Technological Progress on the Evolution of Societies, Especially in the Developing Countries (Unesco, Paris, 1986), pp. 25-26.
38. K. Marx, "Zur Judenfrage," in Die Frühschriften (Kröner Verlag, Stuttgart, 1964), p. 190: "Die Teilname am Gemeinwesen, und zwar am politischen Gemeinwesen, ein Staatswesen, bildet ihren Inhalt."
39. E. Durkheim, De la division du travail social, 8th ed. (Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 1967).
40. This concept of "collective consciousness" is elaborated in several of Durkheim's works, e.g. Les formes élémentaires de la vie religieuse, 5th ed. (Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 1968).
41. V. Pareto, Traité de sociologic générale. Oeuvres completes, vol. Xll (Librairie Droz, Geneva, 1968), pare. 2067; Les systèms socialistes (Librairie Droz, Geneva, 1964); La transformation de la démocratie (Librairie Droz, Geneva, 1970).
42. M. Weber, "Einleitung in die Wirtsehaftlichkeit der Weltreligionen", in Weber (note 20 above), pp. 350, 437.
43. T. Veblen, The Theory of the Leisure Class (Viking Press, New York 1922); W.F. Ogburn, On Culture and Social Change (University of Chicago Press, Chicago/ London, 1964); Bell (note 10 above); Kerr (note 28 above).
44. R.K. Merton, "Science and Economy of 17th Century England," Social Theory and Social Structure (The Free Press of Glencoe, 1957), pp. 607-627.
45. C. Tilly, "Shrugging off the Nineteenth Century Incubus," in J. Berting and W. Blockmans, eds., Beyond Progress and Development (Gower Publishing Company, Aldershot, 1986).
46. J. Gershuny, After Industrial Society: The Emerging Self-service Economy (Macmillan, London/Basingstoke, 1978), pp. 4-5.
47. Berting (note 27 above), p. 170 ff.
48. W.F. Oghurn, "Technological Trends and National Policy", Report of the Subcommittee on Technology to the National Resources Committee (US Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1937), p. 10.
49. M. Maurice, F. Sellier, and J.J. Silvestre, Politique d'éducation et organisation industrielle en Prance et Allemagne (Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 1982); 1). Gallie, In Search of a New Working Class: Automation and Social Integration within the Capitalist Enterprise (Cambridge University Press, London, 1978); B. Lutz. "Bildungssystem und Beschaftigungsstrukturen in Deutschland und Frankreich. Zum Einfluss des Bildungssystems auf die Gestaltung betrieblicher Arbeitskräftestrukturen," in l. S. F. München, ed., Betrieb, Arbeitsmarkt, Qualifikation (Frankfurt am Main, 1976); H. Kern and M. Schumann, Das Ende der Arbeitsteilung? Rationalizierung in der industriellen Produktion (Verlag C.H. Beck, Munich, 1985); R. Dore, British Fartory-Japanese Factory: The Origin of National Diversity in Industrial Relations (George Allen & Unwin, London, 1973); R.J. Smith, Japanese Society: Tradition, Self and the Social Order (Cambridge University Press, London, 1983); L. Winner, Autonomous Technology: Technics-out-of-Control as a Theme in Political Thought (MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass./ London, 1977); L. Hirsehhorn, Beyond Mechanisation: Work and Technology in a Post-industrial Age (MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass./London, 1984).
50. P. Grootings, "Conditions and Consequences of the Introduction of New Technol ogy at Work," in A. Francis and P. Grootings, eds., New Technologies and Work: Capitalist and Socialist Perspectives (Routledge, London/New York, 1989).
51. K. Matsushita, "'Why the West will Lose,' extracts from remarks made by Mr Konosuke Matsushita of the Matsushita Electric Industrial Company," in Industrial Participation, Spring 1985, pp. 1, 8.
52. R.B. Reich, "The Quick Path to Technological Preminence," Scientific American, vol. 261, no. 4 (1989): 19-25.
53. M. Crozier, in an interview in Le Monde, December 1989. We are prisoners of a system in which nobody listens to anyone: "La 'nationalité" a priori n'est absolument pas le bon moyen de changer la réalité, celle-ci ne se modifie qu'à travers l'innovation élaborée le plus près possible du terrain."
54. B. Latour, Science in Action (Open University Press, 1987); B. Latour and S. Woolgar, Laboratory Life: The Social Construction of Scientific Fans, Sage Library of Social Research, 80 (Beverly Hills/London, 1979).
55. P. d'lribarne, La logique de l'honneur: Gestion des entreprises et traditions nationales (Editions du Seuil, Paris, 1989).
56. R. Boudon, La place du désordre: Critique des théories du changement social (Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 1984).
57. Shigeru Nakayama, "Human Rights and the Structure of the Scientific Enterprise," in Weeramantry (note 3 above), chap. 7.
58. P. Johnson and A. Sasson, eds., New Technologies and Development (Unesco, Paris, 1986), p. 21. See also the report on the Today Symposium on the "Advanced Industrial Societies in Disarray: What Are the Available Choices?" (Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo, 1989).