Sociology 53 The Social Consequences of Computing

Soc 53 / CIS 5.4

This interdisciplinary course will examine questions relevant to the modern digital era. What is the relationship between technology and democracy, freedom and social change? What is the nature of communities online? How do different technologies impose or facilitate different modes of interaction? To what kinds of uses is technology put by social and political movements? To what extent have mainstream and marginalized groups have established a presence on the web, and to what ends? What kind of social change can computing realistically drive? Can computing bring about decreased reliance on corporate-owned media? Has computing simply created a new elite?

In this course, we will study some of the subcultures associated with computing and some of the key issues that the digital era has brought to the forefront of public debate, including property rights, privacy, security, globalization, and new forms of inequality.