Dissertation Research: Office Automation and the Construction of Computerization as Productivity in Britain, 1945 to 1975

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This Science and Society Dissertation Improvement Grant in the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology analyzes the introduction of office computing technologies in Britain from the end of the Second World War to the middle of the nineteen-seventies in order to show the importance of cultural specificity to historical change. Taking government offices as its main example, this study will integrate the history of technology with the histories of British policy, economics, society, and culture, while simultaneously situating itself within the larger context of the international trade of computers. After the Second World War, Britain saw enormous growth in the market for computers designed specifically to automate clerical tasks. New computing machinery was hailed, first and foremost, as a boon for productivity. While many of the computers installed in government service did not enhance productivity, this did not deter government spending. The objective of this project is to provide insight into how and why this change occurred, given that the government's primary justification of increasing productivity and lowering costs was rarely, if ever, reached. One aspect of the changeover that has not been studied is the role of the labor force in the change. A female workforce of machine operators and data entry personnel filled the repetitive, deskilled jobs created by office computerization, leading to a lower-paid, less unionized office workforce with high turnover. The project will re-frame the debate on computing productivity using historical research in technology, labor, gender and economics As a result, it will integrate the history of those who deployed the technology with the history of the workers who used the technology. The project will advance knowledge and understanding across a range of historical fields. Methods from science and technology studies and women's studies help frame the project's goal of elucidating how specific technological changes are grounded socially, culturally, and economically, but a historical, not sociological methodology intentionally prevails. In bringing insights from multiple fields into conversation with each other, the project will change the current trajectory of the history of computing from a narrative that is focused primarily on designers and the international success of American products to one that incorporates workers and national specificity. The researcher has researched and taught within the history of technology, European history, and science and technology studies, in addition to having worked in the computing field. This project speaks to cogent themes that extend well beyond the academy. It expands the general understanding of automation's impacts by showing that a gendered analysis is a crucial ingredient in attaining a greater understanding of institutional change. In the case of electronic data processing, technological developments overarch institutional and national change. This project shows how these technological developments are dually predicated upon economic concerns, such as increasing productivity, and cultural negotiations over workers' identities arising equally out of the public and private sphere. Furthermore, the study encourages deeper engagement with the burgeoning role of national, utopian technocratic ideals in the period from World War Two to the present. Funds will support data collection at various archives in Great Britain, including the National Archives in London and the National Archive for the History of Computing at the University of Manchester, as well as civil service workers union records.