Technological ambivalence and degrowth

This article analyses technological ambivalence and its implications for degrowth scholarship and practice. We critically examine and reject the assumption of ontological ambivalence, in which technologies are understood as indeterminate with respect to their socio-ecological conditions and consequences. We distinguish this from epistemological ambivalence, in which ambivalence refers to indecisiveness in human interpretations, experiences and valuations of technology. We show that parts of contemporary degrowth scholarship implicitly rely on an ontological reading of technological ambivalence in discussions of technological solutions, such as lower-carbon energy systems. Drawing on critical realism and philosophical materialism, we argue that technologies are materially and biophysically real and have determinate conditions of existence, including unavoidable environmental impacts and socially uneven conditions of production. On this basis, we contend that ambivalence should be understood as a feature of human interpretation and valuation rather than an intrinsic property of technological objects. We suggest that degrowth scholarship reject ontological accounts of technological ambivalence in favour of epistemological ones and adopt a more critical stance toward the assumption that advanced modern technologies can be made environmentally sustainable.