technology. These positions are then complemented with elements from Friedrich
Kittler’s agency of technology. It is argued that the social element embedded in
the use of technology is becoming more pronounced and that technology itself
has become a social object in communication. This development, in turn, may lead
to the emergence of yet another social system, namely the social system of the
use of ICT.
2.4 Understanding technology in dispute resolution
2.4.1 Definition deficit of dispute resolution technology
In order to assess the consequences of technology-driven privatisation of coercion,
it is necessary to formulate an overview of what is meant by technology in this
context. Although it would be tempting to provide a universal definition of dispute
resolution technology and a comprehensive take on its acceptability, such an
approach would lead to oversimplification of the various functions performed by
different applications of dispute resolution technology. We must content ourselves
with assessing the impact of technological change on a macro-level of society and
complement this overview with case-by-case analysis of the functions of different
applications. At the danger of sounding too obvious, legal technology or even
dispute resolution technology should not be considered good or bad, as such
generalisation overlooks how technology is used in a given situation and the
implications of this usage.
55
Before proceeding to dispute resolution technology, it is necessary to place it
within the broader societal development called digitalisation. Nowadays the term
‘digitalisation’ is widely used to describe the various changes taking place in society
that are related to the use of modern information and communication technologies. The terminology is not well defined; digitalisation is used to explain
relatively small-scale shifts in working methods and business models as well as
large-scale disruptions of whole industries and societies. In this latter meaning
digitalisation refers to the transformation towards a post-industrial information
society, which is defined by the growing socio-economic and cultural importance
of information instead of the mass production of the previous era.
56 The emphasis
on the social implications of digitalisation creates conceptual distance from a
neighbouring term, ‘digitisation’, which refers to the processes of transforming
information into a digital format that facilitates computer processing.
Although digitisation is the prerequisite for the digitalisation of society, this
connection is somewhat downplayed here for a reason. This study revolves
around the technological change of society that results from the use of digital
technologies and argues that such technologies are increasing privatisation of
coercion. This being said, we are primarily interested in the ways in which the
tools of technology are used in enforcement and what implications these uses
have for overall conflict management. This claim is closely linked to societal
transformation of digitalisation but its connection with the transformation of
information formats of digitisation is only secondary. In its original meaning,
40 Theoretical implications of dispute resolution technology
Kittler’s agency of technology. It is argued that the social element embedded in
the use of technology is becoming more pronounced and that technology itself
has become a social object in communication. This development, in turn, may lead
to the emergence of yet another social system, namely the social system of the
use of ICT.
2.4 Understanding technology in dispute resolution
2.4.1 Definition deficit of dispute resolution technology
In order to assess the consequences of technology-driven privatisation of coercion,
it is necessary to formulate an overview of what is meant by technology in this
context. Although it would be tempting to provide a universal definition of dispute
resolution technology and a comprehensive take on its acceptability, such an
approach would lead to oversimplification of the various functions performed by
different applications of dispute resolution technology. We must content ourselves
with assessing the impact of technological change on a macro-level of society and
complement this overview with case-by-case analysis of the functions of different
applications. At the danger of sounding too obvious, legal technology or even
dispute resolution technology should not be considered good or bad, as such
generalisation overlooks how technology is used in a given situation and the
implications of this usage.
55
Before proceeding to dispute resolution technology, it is necessary to place it
within the broader societal development called digitalisation. Nowadays the term
‘digitalisation’ is widely used to describe the various changes taking place in society
that are related to the use of modern information and communication technologies. The terminology is not well defined; digitalisation is used to explain
relatively small-scale shifts in working methods and business models as well as
large-scale disruptions of whole industries and societies. In this latter meaning
digitalisation refers to the transformation towards a post-industrial information
society, which is defined by the growing socio-economic and cultural importance
of information instead of the mass production of the previous era.
56 The emphasis
on the social implications of digitalisation creates conceptual distance from a
neighbouring term, ‘digitisation’, which refers to the processes of transforming
information into a digital format that facilitates computer processing.
Although digitisation is the prerequisite for the digitalisation of society, this
connection is somewhat downplayed here for a reason. This study revolves
around the technological change of society that results from the use of digital
technologies and argues that such technologies are increasing privatisation of
coercion. This being said, we are primarily interested in the ways in which the
tools of technology are used in enforcement and what implications these uses
have for overall conflict management. This claim is closely linked to societal
transformation of digitalisation but its connection with the transformation of
information formats of digitisation is only secondary. In its original meaning,
40 Theoretical implications of dispute resolution technology