How Sociotechnical Systems Adapt to Change

Reproductive Imaginaries in the Co-production of Assisted Reproductive Technologies

Abstract

This paper addresses the topic of the dynamics of sociotechnical change of reproductive technologies and, in particular, the relationship between sociotechnical systems as described by TP Hughes and their environments. The co-production approach and sociotechnical imaginaries defined by S Jasanoff and SH Kim allow to explain the dynamics of technical change through the interweaving of technoscientific and social practices; and the concept of ‘reproductive imaginaries’ provides a better analysis of the back and forth adjustment between the system and its environment in a way that avoids the soft determinism that still persists in traditional accounts of sociotechnical change. I argue that reproductive technologies are co-produced with its environment in dialectical processes through specific technologies and reproductive imaginaries. Finally, I defend that this system performed adaptations even when it is mature.