Introduction
Human history is not merely a chronicle of wars, but primarily a sequence of reorganizing the means of production and reproduction. According to Debora Spar, technologies—from the Neolithic plow to AI algorithms—fundamentally transform the definitions of family, gender, and work. This article analyzes how the technical agency of Homo faber disrupts the traditional order, forcing a choice between a new emancipation and technofeudalism. You will learn why the contraceptive pill changed the world more than the steam engine and how automation is compelling the dismantling of patriarchy.
The Neolithic and the Industrial Revolution: From the Plow to Patriarchy
There is a striking symmetry between the Neolithic era and the Industrial Revolution. The plow was not just an agricultural tool; it became the foundation of institutional patriarchy. Sedentary life necessitated control over land and inheritance, which, in the era before DNA testing, required strict surveillance of female sexuality. Thus, monogamous marriage was born as a mechanism for stabilizing property.
Karl Marx focused on the means of production, arguing that the steam mill creates the capitalist. Spar supplements this diagnosis with the means of reproduction. In this view, the plow established the husband-owner, and the steam engine created the breadwinner model. The separation of home and factory reduced the woman's role to the unpaid reproduction of the labor force and domestic stability, which solidified economic subordination under the guise of moral virtue.
The Pill and ART: Dismantling Biological Destiny
The contraceptive pill is a technology more revolutionary than the steam engine because, as a "chemical plow," it permanently decoupled sex from procreation. This gave women unprecedented biographical autonomy and undermined the purpose of marriage as an insurance policy against the biological consequences of sexuality. The next step involves ART (Assisted Reproductive Technologies, such as IVF and surrogacy), which move reproduction to the laboratory, replacing biology with intentionality. Parenthood becomes a construct based on will, legitimizing same-sex families and hybrid configurations.
At the same time, digital platforms like Tinder are re-commodifying relationships. Intimacy is harnessed into market logic, where an excess of choice leads to decision paralysis. Human profiles become commodities, and relationships become temporary consumption, deepening the crisis of lasting bonds in the digital world.
AI and the Identity Crisis: The Aporia of Patriarchal Roles
Automation and AI strike at the identity of the modern man, destroying the archetype of the industrial breadwinner. A logical aporia arises: if technology makes procreation (Q) and production (R) independent, the traditional nuclear family (S) cannot survive. Maintaining patriarchy (P) by force under these conditions leads to social pathologies and political radicalization. The conservative defense of gender binarism is, in essence, an attempt to save the order of inheritance and power.
In European politics, the debate over Spar's ideas is fragmented. The Scandinavian model adapts by recognizing ART as a common good, while the German model has clung to traditional structures longer. Progressive factions support reproductive autonomy but avoid clashing with technological capital. Meanwhile, structural technological unemployment makes Universal Basic Income a necessity rather than a utopia to prevent new forms of dependency in the age of AI.
Summary: Technology and the New Paradigm of Rationality
Technologies intended to liberate us may, paradoxically, enslave us. The impact of machines on the symbolic order depends on the dominant paradigm of rationality. If we stick to the logic of profit, reproductive technologies will reinforce inequalities. The challenge for global business and elites is to build institutions that protect the individual from being reduced to a data packet or a biological resource.
Can we create a world where technical progress serves to build relationships based on love and responsibility rather than algorithms and consumption? Or will we merely become another, more perfect tool in the hands of a soulless machine? The solution lies in subordinating technical reason to the common good and accepting the fact that a return to the old order is impossible.
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