The power of discourse: How agency is constructed and constituted in discourse of smart technologies, systems and associated developments

Abstract

This article focuses on discourses of ‘smart’ in order to invite more inclusive communications among policymakers, scientists and practitioners, designers and developers. The selected data consist of the European Commission policy discourse on innovation for the digital future and related developments currently in force with legally binding financial and monitoring instruments. We identify assumptions about who and what ‘drives’ this domain of innovation and who is at the ‘receiving end’. Namely, the two conspicuous notions in these texts concern ‘smart’ Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-driven progress and Europeans as beneficiaries. We discourse-analyse these assumptions, the resources they draw upon, rhetorical strategies and the implications of the ideological underpinnings for those who are spoken of. By interrogating taken-for-granted notions and ways of talking about (the role of) technology and Europeans, we aim to raise awareness about how discourses of smart can be deconstructed in order to unravel and ‘see’ the built-in assumptions, trace their trajectories, consider their functions as they appear, and begin to address open and direct questions about them to their proponents.