The people from the beginning of 1900s would probably face jetlag if they have been in our modern electrified cities. Imagine, they will start sleeping later everyday having the possibility of experiencing the benefits of the light during the night time as well (Of course, i do not disregard the farmers who need to wake up early in order to make best use of the daylight they have in the farms).
I recently hang two decorative plates on the walls of my house. They are called... and have the Electricity series painted on them. I always liked them as a symbol of the over the top usage of the popular culture as a tool to educate the society. One of them displays a grandpa reading a book under the table lamp to his grandchildren. The other plate has a drawing of an elderly man sitting on a couch reading a book and a woman next to him knitting sitting through using the light coming from a floor lamp. In both of the plates, the overal pictures is quite dark (as the lighting then was not as bright as the ones that we have now, thus the drawings portray a realistic state of a room with lighting of the time). Thus the series of plates promotes the usage of electricity through reinforcing its benefits for the users.
For a 21st century person, this might seem quite absurd as we take it granted electricity granted and it is a normal part of our life. Why would anyone resist using it? We don't think of the process of introduction of electricity and its acceptance by the users of the time. Of course, anyone would have accepted electricity with open arms and what their homes to be connected to the electricity network. But, social scientist focusing on the development of Technologies says the opposite. It has not been an easy process as we have assumed. Explaining the actions of the American rural farmers during the introduction of telephone lines and the electrification, Ronald Kline portrays different strategies employeed by rural American in adopting these Technologies to patterns of their rural life. Resisting a technology does not just mean opposing its introduction into a certain community or not purchasing the technology. It can also signify "not using a technology in a prescribed manner" (Kline, 2002 53).
For example, in the beginning of 1900s rural farmer communities embraced the telephone lines installed in their houses, but used these party lines (the telephone lines that were shared by multiple households) in line with their patterns of rural life. The party line was used for playing music to the users of the same line or for eavesdropping (Kline, 2002 54). And this practice was considered socially aceptable among the users (ibid 56) as a party line became a tool that strengthen the community ties through being adapted within the usage patterns of the rural people.
Resistance towards electricity was for different reasons. There were people who did not "feel that electricity is worthwile to them even though they can often well afford it" (Kline, 2002 60). There were also issues in relation to the erection of the electricity poles as they were intervening the plowing of the land people owned. There were also questions raised when people heard that the power outlets will also be installed in the bedroom since it seemed like a luxury (Kline, 2002 60). Kline calls these "contested meanings" (Kline, 2002 54) rather than resistance as they can be interpreted as "Transformative Resistance because they helped to create technological and social change" (Kline, 2002 53). The meaning adhered to the telephone and the electricity in the urban was not same as the one in the rural. People used these Technologies differently according to their patterns of life. Kline's article is important as it highlights users are not passive recipients of the transfer of technology from one context to the other, they are "active consumers who resisted, modified, and selectively adopted these Technologies on an individual basis" (Kline, 2002 51).
My decorative plates display popular culture posters that were used in order to promote electricity use at home. They were actually part of the overall strategies to overcome the resistance/modification of the users.
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