Eigenverlag/Self

Abstract:
A society’s reactions to technological developments are not predetermined by the latter. Just as little, however, is the response of a social environment to a certain technical innovation merely shaped by arbitrariness or individual rational decision-making. Frames as discursive mental or cultural constructs conciliate between a technological phenomenon and its social context. According to the respective conceptual design, frames underlie policy positions, reflect and reproduce themselves in media coverage, are strategically promoted by social movements or affect individual perception and situational interpretations. This article structures the framing-literature, scattered widely across various disciplines, and sketches possible applications of frame concepts from the perspective of social science based technology studies. It sharpens respective notions and points out where and how we can harness frames as heuristic instruments for an analysis of interactions between technologies and society. A comparison with related concepts from the theoretical works of Michel Foucault and Ulrich Oevermann rounds off the discussion.