Technodiversity: a Diversity of Technological Milieux in Large Infrastructures

Abstract

The concept of “technodiversity” has raised a particular interest in the field of philosophy of technology for a decade. This interest partially stems from the analogy suggested by the neologism in itself: “technodiversity” echoes “biodiversity”, now a major concept both on the scientific and political stages for speaking of the living world. Biodiversity encompasses the whole of the living world and unmistakably defines its first and prior characteristic as being diverse. Biodiversity relates to all different forms of diversity of the living world; biodiversity is as such the diversity of the diversities in the living world. Then, is there any relevance to speak of “technodiversity” in regard to technology as we speak of biodiversity for the living world? This question will be answered through three case studies that all concern major large infrastructures. Firstly, in regard to the construction of the train infrastructure, technodiversity will be described as its constitutive condition. The second case study will concern the knowledge infrastructure of climatology and will bring forward, not only technodiversity as a constitutive condition, but as being positive for the good functioning of this particular infrastructure. The third and last case study will show the positive value of technodiversity for the “design milieux”, through the example of the software infrastructure supporting large engineering design projects. To conclude, the possibility to generalize the depiction of technodiversity both as a factual condition and value for large infrastructures will be discussed.