Technological visions for social change - information technology, telework, and the integration of disabled persons

Visions involving technology has become common at all levels in society, from governmental plans to individual dreams of self-realisation. The visions especially flourish around new technology like information technology, and the technology is seen as a solution to various sorts of non-technical problems. The paper studies the role technology plays in social visions. It focuses on visions around integration of disabled persons where information technology plays a part. It shows that the technological element in the vision may be an important force in order to realise visions and to bring about change. But the technological element may become too dominant, thereby preventing the necessary steps of a non-technical kind to be taken.