How Technologies Harm

‘Brilliant – a significant framework. Rejecting both technological determinism (which attributes societal changes solely to technology) and social determinism (which dismisses technology’s role), Wood proposes a nuanced technology-harm relations framework. His framework allows for a comprehensive analysis of how technologies mediate human perception and behaviour, foster systemic inequalities and produce harms at both micro and macro levels. The next challenge for us is to mobilise this theory into action – not only a relational reset but a methodological one too.’ Victoria Knight, De Montfort University

‘Insight-driven, well-structured and comprehensive. Wood offers a skillful analysis and a fresh perspective on the complex relationships between technology and harm that pervade human civilization. A subject matter that concerns us all.’ Mareile Kaufmann, University of Oslo

‘How technologies harm’ is an intellectually rigorous journey into the ripple effects of our codependent human-technology relationship. From brain-rotting doomscrolling through to postphenomenology, Wood traverses the technology-harm nexus and, in so doing, provides a compelling account of how technologies may contribute to social harms. According to Wood, technologies are neither neutral nor intrinsically harmful. Instead, Wood’s relational approach demonstrates how technologies have the potential to harm through specific interactions and circumstances. Importantly, this is not a work filled with dystopic visions; rather it is one that simultaneously acknowledges technologies’ positive affordances, and their power to mitigate harm and benefit humans.’ Carolyn McKay, University of Sydney