Les leviers de l'hégémonie technique : l'informatisation de la Sécurité sociale et la question de la politique des techniques

Since Langdon Winner sparked debate on the politics of artefacts (1980), authors in philosophy of technology have regarded politics as intrinsic properties of artefacts, examined as standalone objects, endowed with agency (Verbeek 2006; Latour 2009; Marres 2012). The history of French welfare computerization during a period of contentious reform (1963-1979) and the imposition of a specific, “medium” configuration, centralizing information processing and institutional decision-making power, offers a sociohistorical case study to critically reconceptualize the politics of technology. Through empirically informed philosophical inquiry, this article examines the constitution of a form of “technological hegemony” (Feenberg, 1999), discusses the notion’s relevance and limits, and advances an understanding of politics as extrinsic properties of technology arising from its encounter with its institutional context. It redefines the correlative notion of technological democracy as the capacity of actors involved in technological activities to effectively engage in institutional development and use of technology, reopening foreclosed technological possibilities.