Technological Megashift and the EU: Threats, Vulnerabilities and Fragmented Responsibilities

Theorizing technology and international relations: prevailing perspectives and new horizons

“…In particular, this contribution addresses whether and how prevailing theoretical approaches have been able to analyze the relationship between technological and international political change. This includes how the personal, social, societal, and, to an extent, also biological worlds are becoming increasingly interconnected through new technologies -what has been referred to as the 'fourth industrial revolution' (Newlove- Eriksson and Eriksson, 2021;Schwab, 2017). How then is technology addressed within the field of international relations (IR)?…”

“…Noteworthy attempts have recently been made to incorporate technology in IR theorizing, including the emerging paradigm of 'techno-politics', which draws largely on the separate yet multidisciplinary field of science and technology studies (STS) (Drezner, 2019;Hoijtink and Leese, 2019;Kaltofen et al, 2019;Mayer et al, 2014;McCarthy, 2018;Newlove-Eriksson and Eriksson, 2021;Singh et al, 2019). Moreover, with some success, technology has become an explicit topic (among many others) in major social science associations, such as the International Studies Association (ISA).…”

“…First, technology is considered neither good, bad nor neutral (Fritsch, 2014, p. 115;Kranzberg, 1986;Newlove-Eriksson and Eriksson, 2021). This statement is meant to clarify that in contrast to major IR paradigms (including constructivism), technology is considered to be 'deeply political', and that technology is intertwined with or embedded within society and politics, rather than to be seen as an exogenous factor.…”

“…This new and deeper form of complex interdependence, techno-political transformation, fourth industrial revolution or whatever this new reality is called -goes beyond the emergence of 'information society'. This new structural shift is about the fusion of the physical, biological, digital and social worlds -through interconnected technologies (Schwab, 2017;Newlove-Eriksson and Eriksson, 2021). The smartphone is the most literal expression of what this means -a hand-held multipurpose digital device that in itself implies a fusion of the social, the societal, the global, the personal and even the biological (e.g., through applications that can assess your health).…”