Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Technique and Technology in the Practice of Distance Running

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Spanish Philosophy of Technology

Part of the book series: Philosophy of Engineering and Technology ((POET,volume 24))

  • 330 Accesses

Abstract

Recent accounts of the development of the philosophy of technology identify a distinct empirical turn in the 1980s and 1990s characterized by a focus on specific technologies and an understanding of technology as a contingent product of a heterogeneous array of factors. In this contribution, I explore the overlaps of this so-called empirical turn with other research fields such as science studies, practice studies or even consumer research via a case study on sports technology, that of the running shoe.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    According to Bijker, the “sociotechnical ensemble” as a unit of analysis refers to Callon’s principle of general symmetry, “society is not determined by technology, nor is technology determined by society. Both emerge as two sides of the sociotechnical coin during the construction processes of artifacts, facts, and relevant social groups” (Bijker 1995, p. 274).

  2. 2.

    Bionic limb expert Hugh Herr, recent Princess of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research (2016), is another excellent example. A gifted rock climber from his youth, he had both legs amputated after a mountain accident and directed his efforts to fight disability. His smart prostheses are much more than simple ‘artificial legs’, and his mission to end disability is continuous with the dream of human enhancement through the merging of body and technology.

  3. 3.

    Their emphasis on material mediation as an essential component of practices is based upon Schatzki (2001), as opposed to alternative analyses of practices such as Bourdieu’s, which focuses on routine and repetition.

  4. 4.

    A runner overpronates when the inward rotation of his or her foot is excessive during running, flattening out the arch foot. Overpronation is related to a number of injuries (Hintermann and Nigg 1998).

  5. 5.

    Barefootrunning.com (accessed October 25, 2016), online since 1997, claims to be the original barefoot site. Thebarefootrunners.org is the website of the Barefoot Runners Society, founded in 2009 (accessed October 25, 2016). Barefootrunning.fas.harvard.edu gathers scientific information on barefoot running following Daniel Lieberman’s research and is partially funded by the Vibram company. Naturalrunningcenter.com is led by Dr. Marc Cucuzzella and runner Bill Katovsky, a curious combination of authority and experience, representing the hybrid spirit of the new trend (accessed October 25, 2016). Correrdescalzos.es and correrdescalzo.com are two Spanish websites on natural running (accessed October 25, 2016).

  6. 6.

    Originally designed for sailing and water sports, its potential use for ‘almost barefoot’ running was introduced later as a suggestion of an enthusiastic barefoot runner and instructor (McDougall 2009). Vibram received a lawsuit in 2012 for the unproven health claims related to the benefits of its FiveFingers. The company accepted a settlement agreement and moved on.

  7. 7.

    Contemporary minimalist running shoes share a good number of features with the traditional racing flats athletes use for competition and fast workouts: they are lightweight, low drop and thin-soled (Davis 2014).

References

  • Akrich, M. (1992). The de-scription of technical objects. In W. Bijker & J. Law (Eds.), Shaping technology/building society: Studies in sociotechnical change (pp. 205–224). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bale, J. (2004). Running cultures. Racing in time and space. London/New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bijker, W. E. (1995). Of bicycles, bakelites and bulbs. Toward a theory of sociotechnical change. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bijker, W. (2003). The need for public intellectuals: A space for STS. Science, Technology and Human Values, 28(4), 443–450.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bijker, W. E., & Pinch, T. (1984). The social construction of facts and artifacts: Or how the sociology of science and the sociology of technology might benefit each other. Social Studies of Science, 14(3), 399–441.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowles, C., Ambegaonkar, J., Cortes, N., & Caswell, S. (2012). Footwear for distance runners: The minimalism trend. International Journal of Athletic Therapy & Training, 17(6), 14–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brey, P. (2000). Technology as extension of human faculties. In C. Mitcham (Ed.), Metaphysics, epistemology, and technology. Research in philosophy and technology (Vol. 19). London: Elsevier/JAI Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brey, P. (2010). Philosophy of technology after the empirical turn. Techné: Research in Philosophy and Technology, 14(1), 36–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brey, P. (2014). From reflective to constructive philosophy of technology. Journal of Engineering Studies, 6(2), 129–136. (preprint version in: https://www.utwente.nl/bms/wijsb/organization/brey/Publicaties_Brey/brey-2014-constructive-philosophy.pdf).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bridel, W., Markula, P., & Denison, J. (Eds.). (2015). Endurance running: A socio-cultural examination. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clinghan, R. J., Arnold, G. P., Cochrane, L. A., & Abboud, R. J. (2008). Do you get value for money when you buy an expensive pair of running shoes? British Journal of Sports Medicine, 42, 189–193.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis, I. S. (2014). The re-emergence of the minimal running shoe. The Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy, 44(10), 775–784.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dyer, B. (2015). The controversy of sports technology: A systematic review. Springer Plus, 4, 524. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40064-015-1331-x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frederick, E. C. (1986). Kinematically mediated effects of sports shoe design: A review. Journal of Sports Sciences, 4, 169–184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • González García, M. I. (2012). Correr descalzos. Entre la ciencia y la cultura. In M. I. González García, J. A. López Cerezo, & J. A. (Eds.), Fronteras de la ciencia. Hibridaciones (pp. 185–198). Madrid: Biblioteca Nueva.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hintermann, B., & Nigg, B. M. (1998). Pronation in runners. Sports Medicine, 26(3), 169–176.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hockey, J., Dilley, R., Robinson, V., & Sherlock, A. (2015). ‘There’s not just trainers or non-trainers. There’s like degrees of trainers’: Commodisation, singularisation and identity. Journal of Material Culture, 20(1), 21–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, T. (1986). The seamless web: Technology, science, etcetera, etcetera. Social Studies of Science, 16(2), 281–292.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, T. (1987). The evolution of large technological systems. In W. Bijker, T. Hughes, & T. Pinch (Eds.), The social construction of technological systems (pp. 51–82). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ingram, J., Shove, E., & Watson, M. (2007). Products and practices: Selected concepts from science and technology studies and from social theories of consumption and practice. Design Issues, 23(2), 3–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins, D., & Cauthon, D. (2011). Barefoot running claims and controversies. A review of the literature. Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association, 101(3), 231–246.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kiran, A. H., & Verbeek, P. P. (2010). Trusting our selves to technology. Knowledge, Technology, & Policy, 23(3), 409–427.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Latham, A. (2015). The history of a habit: Jogging as a palliative to sedentariness in 1960s America. Cultural Geographies, 22(1), 103–126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lieberman, D., et al. (2010). Foot strike patterns and collision forces in habitually barefoot versus shod runners. Nature, 463, 531–535.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McDougall, C. (2009). Born to run. New York: Knopf.

    Google Scholar 

  • Michael, M. (2000a). Reconnecting technology, culture and nature. London/New York: Taylor and Francis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Michael, M. (2000b). These boots are made for walking…: Mundane technology, the body and human-environment relations. Body & Society, 6(3–4), 107–126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitcham, C. (1994). Thinking through technology. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitcham, C., Kroes, P., & Meijers, A. (Eds.). (2001). The empirical turn in the philosophy of technology, Research in Philosophy & Technology (Vol. 20). Greenwich: Jai Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pickering, A. (1995). The mangle of practice. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Richards, C. S., Magin, P. J., & Callister, R. (2009). Is your prescription of distance running shoes evidence-based? British Journal of Sports Medicine, 43, 159–162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robbins, S. E., & Gouw, G. J. (1990). Athletic footwear and chronic overloading. A brief summary. Sports Medicine, 9(2), 76–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robbins, S. E., & Gouw, G. J. (1991). Athletic footwear: Unsafe due to perceptual illusions. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 23(2), 217–224.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robbins, S. E., & Hanna, A. M. (1987). Running-related injury prevention through barefoot adaptations. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 19(2), 148–156.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosen, P. (1993). The social construction of mountain bikes: Technology and postmodernity in the cycle industry. Social Studies of Science, 23(3), 479–513.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosen, P. (2002). Up the Vélorution: Appropriating the bicycle and the politics of technology. In R. Eglash et al. (Eds.), Appropriating technology. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rothschild, C. E. (2012). Primitive running: A survey analysis of runner’s interest, participation, and implementation. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 26(8), 2021–2026.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schatzki, T. (2001). Social practices. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schatzki, T., Knorr-Cetina, K., & von Savigny, E. (Eds.). (2001). The practice turn in contemporary theory. London/New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scheerder, J., Vos, S., & Taks, M. (2011). Expenditures on sport apparel: Creating consumer profiles through interval regression modelling. European Sport Management Quarterly, 11(3), 251–274.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scheerder, J., Breedveld, K., & Borgers, J. (2015). Who is doing a run with the running boom? In J. Scheerder, K. Breedveld, & A. Danchev (Eds.), Running across Europe (pp. 1–27). London: Palgrave McMillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shorten, M. R. (2000). Running shoe design: Protection and performance. In D. Tunstall-Pedoe (Ed.), Marathon medicine. London: Royal Society of Medicine.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shove, E., & Pantzar, M. (2005). Consumers, producers and practices. Understanding the invention and reinvention of Nordic walking. Journal of Consumer Culture, 5(1), 43–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tenner, E. (2004). Our own devices: How technology remakes humanity. New York: Vintage.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Hilvoorde, I., Vos, R., & Wert, G. (2007). Flopping, klapping and gene doping: Dichotomies between ‘natural’ and ‘artificial’ in elite sport. Social Studies of Science, 37(2), 173–200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winner, L. (1993). Upon opening the black-box and finding it empty: Social constructivism and the philosophy of technology. Science, Technology and Human Values, 18(3), 362–378.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This contribution has been possible thanks to the financial support provided by the Spanish National R&D&I Plan (MINECO-15-FFI2014-58269-P) and by the FICYT (FC-15-GRUPIN14-128).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, University of Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain

    Marta I. González García

Authors
  1. Marta I. González García
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marta I. González García .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Political Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

    Belén Laspra

  2. Department of Philosophy, University of Oviedo, Oviedo, Asturias, Spain

    José Antonio López Cerezo

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

González García, M.I. (2018). Technique and Technology in the Practice of Distance Running. In: Laspra, B., López Cerezo, J. (eds) Spanish Philosophy of Technology. Philosophy of Engineering and Technology, vol 24. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71958-0_18

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation