科技的性別政治理論和研究的回顧

Gender Politics of Technology Theory and Research

本文提出性別與科技研究的重要議題和研究取向：（一）我們檢視科技與性別分工文獻，探討科技與性別的變動關係。這批文獻逐漸跳脫早期「科技如何對女人造成衝擊」，以及「科技帶來解放？束縛？」的提問，著重性別與階級的複雜交織關係，同時我們也藉由台灣密集勞力產業的女性勞工分析，強調重視打開技術黑盒子的研究取向。（二）知識界如何連結科技與陽剛氣質，為女性主義文獻著力批判的重點。我們介紹家務科技研究做為女性主義開創的新領域，並且從家庭主婦、護士、祕書以及接線小姐的勞動經驗，探討是否科技更新反而帶給女人更多工作負擔，還是增加讓女性的技術受到認可的契機。（三）科技研究過去傾向以創新與發明作為研究重點，我們擁討女性主義文獻，提出轉移研究焦點到技術發展傳播的其他層面，並特別看重「使用者」作為科技發展的關鍵環節。（四）近幾年女性主義科技研究將「性別與科技的相互生成」，當作是重要的理論基礎，我們以「詮釋的彈性」和「陽剛文化與性別認同」兩個面向來闡明。（五）最後，我們從「後殖民科技」的角度探討台灣科技與「中心國」的關係，指出三個值得批判和注意的類型：科技的全面移植而忽視在地的身體：科技代理人在台灣性別脈絡中選擇性地再現科技：中心國的科技帶有內在的性別政治，傳播到其他國家會與當地的性別政治結合。藉由提出這些性別與科技的研究視野，我們期許從女性主義觀點能對科技社會提出更周全的解釋，尋找到介入科技發展的有力建言。

This paper reviews the major theories and research on feminist technology studies. (1) The early literature of gender division of labour has moved away from asking how technology impacts on women , or whether technology means oppression or liberation . Rather, it emphasizes the intertwining effects between gender and class. We also emphasize that to study women workers in Taiwan’s labor-intensive industry, we need to open the black box of their skills to challenge the assumption of their low-skill. (2) Feminist literature has criticized the traditional definition of technology for association with masculinity, thus opening up such new research fields such as domestic technology. By examining the experience of technology among housewives, nurses, secretaries ·and operators, we analyze whether the introduction of new technology brings more work to women, or offers opportunities to recognize their contribution. (3) To criticize the innovation-centered research agenda, the feminist study of technology has shifted the focus from the female elites to women users. (4) The latest feminist literature emphasizes ’the co-production of gender and technology’ as its theoretical foundation . We use two useful concepts-’interpretative flexibility’ and ’masculinity and gender identity’ to illuminate this theoretical foundation. (5) Finally, we stress the importance of examining Taiwan’s technological development from the postcolonial feminist perspective. We examine whether the technology from the center ignores the local bodies , whether the local agents of modern technology selectively represent the meaning of technology, and whether the gender bias of Euro-American societies travels through technology and integrats with local gender politics . We believe that the perspectives of feminist technology studies can give us a fuller understanding of a technoscientific society and lead to better technology policies.