Defuturization machines: The OECD's early efforts to plan the computerized future of education

Abstract

In the late 1960s, the mass use of computers still seemed a thing of the future. However, even though the number of computers actually available was quite small, the pursuit of a technology-based society nourished visions of the coming high relevance of computers. This chapter argues that such visions are not only expressions of the desired future, but also entail defuturization. Defuturization is proposed here as an analytical concept to describe how visions inform governing strategies in the present, namely through a deliberate reduction in the openness of the future. Therefore, the concept of defuturization is helpful for understanding actors that attempt to define policies and support their implementation, such as the OECD. Drawing on archival documents, books, and journal reports this chapter not only outlines the early history of computer education in OECD member countries, but also analyzes how this intergovernmental organization shaped the discourse on technological innovation and social change at a time when computers had not yet entered classrooms on a large scale.