CONCEPT
From Consumer to Citizen
Feenberg's most important political distinction in philosophy of technology: the two modes of relating to the technical environment — the consumer who evaluates outputs, the citizen who shapes the process that produces them.
The distinction between the consumer and the citizen modes of engagement with technology is Feenberg's most fundamental political proposal. The consumer evaluates technology by the quality of what it delivers. The citizen questions the conditions under which the delivery is organized. The consumer chooses among options. The citizen shapes the process through which options are generated. The consumer uses a device. The citizen co-designs a world. The distinction is not between two kinds of people but between two modes the same person can occupy at different moments — and between two political arrangements, one of which Feenberg argues has dominated modern technological societies to the detriment of the other.
In The You On AI Field Guide
The dominant mode of engagement with technology in contemporary societies is consumption. The AI user who sits down with Claude, describes a problem, receives an output, evaluates it on its merits, and proceeds is operating in consumer mode. She may accept