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Mediainthesociety
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-thatthereisnoconnectionbetweentechnologicalmeansandgoalsthatcanbe
achievedthroughthem.InthecaseofMarxism,thedevelopmentoftechnology
-ofthemeansofproduction-isavisiblemanifestationofhistoricalprogress
and,assuch,itisnotneutral.Althoughforsometimetechnologyhasbeenable
tocauseoppression,itmustultimatelyresultinthetriumphoftheperfectso-
ciety.Tiscanbeseenespeciallyclearlyinpoliticalpractice,whichexdefniti-
oneassumedtheprimacyofcommunistscienceandtechnologyandsawthem
asameansofdefeatingtheirwesterncompetition.Technologicalprogresshas
beenseennotonlyasnatural,andthusinevitable,butalsodesirable,sinceithas-
tenedthevictoryofthe“globalproletariat.”Tebeliefintheinevitabilityanduse-
fulnessoftechnologicalprogresswasoneofthesecondaryelementsofpractical
Marxism-Leninismdoctrine,butitwasdilusedthroughcommonawareness
inPoland(andprobablyalsoinothercountriesoftheEasternBloc)andbecame
animportantelementofchange.
Tus,Marxismshedsitsbeliefintheneutralityoftechnologyandchanges
intosubstantivism,whichadmitsthattechnologyisnotjustaflexibletoolbut
alsohasitsownsubstancewhichdefinesachievedgoals.Wecanclaimthatfire-
armscanbeusedinmultipleways(e.g.asstartingpistolsorflare-guns),butitcan
bereasonablyarguedthatthesubstanceoffirearmsboilsdowntoshootingother
peopleoranimals,withotherapplicationsbeingmarginal.JacquesEllul,aradical
substantivist,describesitlikethis:
Techniqueintegrateseverything.Itavoidsshockandsensationalevents.Manisnot
adaptedtoaworldofsteel;techniqueadaptshimtoit.Itchangesthearrangement
ofthisblindworldsothatmancanbeapartofitwithoutcollidingwithitsrough
edges,withouttheanguishofbeingdelivereduptotheinhuman.Techniquethus
providesamodel;itspecifiesatitudesthatarevalidonceandforall.[…]Butwhen
techniqueentersintoeveryareaoflife,includinghuman,itceasestobeexternal
tomanandbecomeshisverysubstance.Itisnolongerfacetofacewithmanbut
isintegratedwithhim,anditprogressivelyabsorbshim.Inthisrespect,techniqueis
radicallydilerentfromthemachine.Tistransformation,soobviousinmodem
society,istheresultofthefactthattechniquehasbecomeautonomous.8
Accordingtothisview-sharedbymanymodernthinkerswhodealwith
media,especiallytheTorontoSchoolheadedbyMarshallMcLuhan-technol-
ogydevelopsaccordingtoitsownplan,anditcannotbeusedtoservejustany
goal.Onthecontrary,itsetsitsowngoals,andnewinventionsandinnovations
triggersocialchanges:peopleadapttotheprogressoftechnology.Tisapproach
8JacquesEllul,TechnologicalSociety,trans.JohnWilkinson(NewYork:Knopf,
1964),6.
