Social Fields Of Technological Innovations

Abstract

The world is in fl ux. It is subject to ambiguous, complex, and mutually reinforcing global trends. This situation is often described as “out of control” and leads to eschatological visions. However, this is not a new situation of the world. Sociology as a science was intended to become an academic response to the demand for analysis of immense social changes stemming from the industrial revolution. It was provoked by innovations that permeated all areas of social life and fundamentally transformed societies in the second half of the nineteenth century. The changes shaped the early sociological imaginaries and provoked Albion Small to announce the “era of sociology” (Small 1895).