ABSTRACT
In this chapter I will explore gender and technology discourses, focusing specifically on the dichotomies that have originated within this debate: technology as a tool of empowerment versus technology as a tool for further patriarchal domination. I will argue that technology has been largely seen as a ‘tool’ rather than a complex network of actants that are human and non-human. I will demonstrate how fields like anthropology, actor network theory (ANT) and science and technology studies (STS) feminists as well as philosophy of complexity and cybernetics have all recognised the multiple logics and actors that make up technological artefacts. Therefore, I will conclude, it appears that the only way to move forward and avoid falling for new generalisations or net delusions (and hence dichotomies) is to consider the heterogeneity and the intertwinement of technology as both stage and actor that enables, facilitates and enacts multiple articulations of ‘women’s issues’.
