“Echt” contact: Hoe telefonie het Nederlandse sociaalpolitieke landschap hervormde en hoe het Nederlandse sociaalpolitieke landschap telefonie (her)vormde, 1877-1914

This article seeks to explore how the interconnectedness of society, politics and technology influenced the implementation and use of the newly invented technology of telephony in the Netherlands during the Belle Époque. It argues that both the technology and the symbolisms associated with telephony are best understood as continuations of longstanding negotiations. As such, the symbolisms of later media, including the internet, also borrowed from this medium. Technically, the invention of telephony constituted an innovation within telegraphy, and it was treated as such by Dutch policymakers for the two decades following its introduction in the country. However, the two media technologies vastly differed in social implications. Many Dutch citizens were enthusiastic about the wondrous new opportunities that this new medium offered. Others, however, were left disillusioned by the rapid and unpredictable changes that it imposed on the world they were living in.