Democratic Technology

Description

Jem Bendell:

"In the 1990s, the philosopher Andrew Feenberg explained that technological development itself needs to be embedded within the principles of democracy, rather than being a separate capitalist entrepreneurial endeavour that is then regulated when governments wake up to the implications."

(https://jembendell.com/2026/10/28/decelerating-our-obedience/)

Policy

Jem Bendell:

"In general the literature on the sociology of technology advocates for the following:

• Greater citizen, user and stakeholder input into technological development processes to shape technology toward their own ends, rather than leaving design to engineers and corporations. This means opening up the “black box” of technology design and enabling myriad public values to enter technical decision-making.

• Greater citizen access to existing technologies that are known to be personally beneficial and of limited negative collective impact. This means considering intellectual property, autonomous use and self-maintenance, education and training, free time, and relevant subsidies, to enable utilisation.

• Changes to market incentives for technology development, to encourage greater alignment with society. That means public funding would be tied to clearer public purpose from developers and commercialisers of technologies.

• Stronger means for civil society and government to assess, steer and regulate technological development and commercialisation."

(https://jembendell.com/2026/10/28/decelerating-our-obedience/)