Tor Hernes
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199594566
- eISBN:
- 9780191595721
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199594566.003.0009
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies
In this chapter I present a comparison between Actor-Network Theory (ANT) and process thinking, with the aim of understanding the potential contribution of ANT to process-based process thinking. Such ...
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In this chapter I present a comparison between Actor-Network Theory (ANT) and process thinking, with the aim of understanding the potential contribution of ANT to process-based process thinking. Such a comparison is important, given the increased focus on process thinking and the growing interest in ANT in process thinking. I suggest three topics of comparison between the two, all of which are central to process thinking. They are as follows: the becoming of things, heterogeneous relationality, and contingency and time. It seems clear from the comparison that ANT has much to offer process-based process thinking. Most importantly, ANT works from an ontology of becoming rather than assuming that entities can be defined in terms of pre-given competencies and capabilities. Where ANT has limitations for the study of organization is at the level of actor networks and their conceptualization of meaning making. I seek to address this by introducing the notion of meaning structures. ANT tends to take a flat view of actor networks, where cohesion depends on the strength of associations between actors and the meaning that actors make of their respective connections, rather than the wholeness of the network. I suggest that meaning structures, inherent to the process thinking represented in pragmatism and phenomenology, may be used to adapt ANT, making it more appropriate for process-based process thinking. Meaning structures imply that actors sense both wholeness and parts, enabling meaning making to transcend the level of local connections. Whereas this capacity is reserved to human actors, it does not necessarily violate the ANT principle of symmetry between human and material actors.Less
In this chapter I present a comparison between Actor-Network Theory (ANT) and process thinking, with the aim of understanding the potential contribution of ANT to process-based process thinking. Such a comparison is important, given the increased focus on process thinking and the growing interest in ANT in process thinking. I suggest three topics of comparison between the two, all of which are central to process thinking. They are as follows: the becoming of things, heterogeneous relationality, and contingency and time. It seems clear from the comparison that ANT has much to offer process-based process thinking. Most importantly, ANT works from an ontology of becoming rather than assuming that entities can be defined in terms of pre-given competencies and capabilities. Where ANT has limitations for the study of organization is at the level of actor networks and their conceptualization of meaning making. I seek to address this by introducing the notion of meaning structures. ANT tends to take a flat view of actor networks, where cohesion depends on the strength of associations between actors and the meaning that actors make of their respective connections, rather than the wholeness of the network. I suggest that meaning structures, inherent to the process thinking represented in pragmatism and phenomenology, may be used to adapt ANT, making it more appropriate for process-based process thinking. Meaning structures imply that actors sense both wholeness and parts, enabling meaning making to transcend the level of local connections. Whereas this capacity is reserved to human actors, it does not necessarily violate the ANT principle of symmetry between human and material actors.
Chrisanthi Avgerou
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199263424
- eISBN:
- 9780191714252
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199263424.003.0003
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies
This chapter examines the relationship of information systems innovation and organizational context, substantiating theoretically the position that technology innovation is inseparable from the ...
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This chapter examines the relationship of information systems innovation and organizational context, substantiating theoretically the position that technology innovation is inseparable from the social processes of organizational change. It traces relevant theoretical debates in the socio-technical stream of information systems research and the multidisciplinary study of technology and society, drawing mostly from the sociology of translation of the theory of actor-networks. Information systems innovation is seen as a process whereby particular actors in an organization succeed in translating their interests into the development and use of ICT applications. In this way, the outcomes of information system innovation are not determined by the properties of the technology, but result from contested interests in complex networks of actors and intermediaries.Less
This chapter examines the relationship of information systems innovation and organizational context, substantiating theoretically the position that technology innovation is inseparable from the social processes of organizational change. It traces relevant theoretical debates in the socio-technical stream of information systems research and the multidisciplinary study of technology and society, drawing mostly from the sociology of translation of the theory of actor-networks. Information systems innovation is seen as a process whereby particular actors in an organization succeed in translating their interests into the development and use of ICT applications. In this way, the outcomes of information system innovation are not determined by the properties of the technology, but result from contested interests in complex networks of actors and intermediaries.
Keith Grint
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198775003
- eISBN:
- 9780191695346
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198775003.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies, HRM / IR
This book is designed for those who find current management orthodoxies inadequate, who are interested in alternative ideas and how they might be applied to management practice, but are not ...
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This book is designed for those who find current management orthodoxies inadequate, who are interested in alternative ideas and how they might be applied to management practice, but are not enthralled by the esoteric world of theoretical books about theory. This book offers a bridge between the ‘esoteric’ world of theory and the practical world of management by exploring and illustrating some current theories (Fuzzy Logic, Actor-Network Theory, Chaos Theory, Constructivism etc.) through discussion of some everyday management issues (strategic decision making, appraisals, negotiation, leadership, culture, and motivation).Less
This book is designed for those who find current management orthodoxies inadequate, who are interested in alternative ideas and how they might be applied to management practice, but are not enthralled by the esoteric world of theoretical books about theory. This book offers a bridge between the ‘esoteric’ world of theory and the practical world of management by exploring and illustrating some current theories (Fuzzy Logic, Actor-Network Theory, Chaos Theory, Constructivism etc.) through discussion of some everyday management issues (strategic decision making, appraisals, negotiation, leadership, culture, and motivation).
Grahame F. Thompson
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780198775270
- eISBN:
- 9780191710513
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198775270.003.0003
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies
This chapter compares and analyses three theoretically driven approaches to the analysis of networks: social network analysis (SNA), transaction cost analysis (TCA), and actor-network theory (ANT). ...
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This chapter compares and analyses three theoretically driven approaches to the analysis of networks: social network analysis (SNA), transaction cost analysis (TCA), and actor-network theory (ANT). Each approach makes a claim to analysing hierarchies and markets as well. In the ANT approach, a network is not an intermediate form of organisation, but a set of relations between actors and techniques. Both ANT and SNA view network as an analytical tool that encompasses and explains both markets and hierarchies as variations of network structures. Only TCA offers an explicit defence of networks being intrinsically different from markets or hierarchies—in the way they coordinate and govern—but these differences can be conceptualised using a single analytical technique and transaction costs. This chapter examines the arguments against the ubiquity of TCA for the analysis of socio-economic coordination and governance, along with the ANT approach to market, organisation, and management, and interlocking directorates as an example of the SNA approach.Less
This chapter compares and analyses three theoretically driven approaches to the analysis of networks: social network analysis (SNA), transaction cost analysis (TCA), and actor-network theory (ANT). Each approach makes a claim to analysing hierarchies and markets as well. In the ANT approach, a network is not an intermediate form of organisation, but a set of relations between actors and techniques. Both ANT and SNA view network as an analytical tool that encompasses and explains both markets and hierarchies as variations of network structures. Only TCA offers an explicit defence of networks being intrinsically different from markets or hierarchies—in the way they coordinate and govern—but these differences can be conceptualised using a single analytical technique and transaction costs. This chapter examines the arguments against the ubiquity of TCA for the analysis of socio-economic coordination and governance, along with the ANT approach to market, organisation, and management, and interlocking directorates as an example of the SNA approach.
Robert A. Beauregard
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780226297255
- eISBN:
- 9780226297422
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226297422.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Occupations, Professions, and Work
City and regional planners talk constantly about the things of the world from highway interchanges, retention ponds, and affordable housing units to zoning documents, conference rooms, and ...
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City and regional planners talk constantly about the things of the world from highway interchanges, retention ponds, and affordable housing units to zoning documents, conference rooms, and consultants’ reports. The material world of planning is acknowledged but insufficiently theorized. In Planning Matter, Robert Beauregard offers a new materialist perspective on planning practice that relies heavily on actor-network theory and science and technology studies to reveal the many ways in which the non-human things of the world mediate what planners say and do. In order to emphasize the importance of planners constantly imagining themselves “in the world,” the argument is illustrated with numerous empirical examples from planning practice in the United States. The result is a theoretical approach that recognizes the vibrancy of non-human matter and the fact that planners neither act alone nor solely with other human beings.Less
City and regional planners talk constantly about the things of the world from highway interchanges, retention ponds, and affordable housing units to zoning documents, conference rooms, and consultants’ reports. The material world of planning is acknowledged but insufficiently theorized. In Planning Matter, Robert Beauregard offers a new materialist perspective on planning practice that relies heavily on actor-network theory and science and technology studies to reveal the many ways in which the non-human things of the world mediate what planners say and do. In order to emphasize the importance of planners constantly imagining themselves “in the world,” the argument is illustrated with numerous empirical examples from planning practice in the United States. The result is a theoretical approach that recognizes the vibrancy of non-human matter and the fact that planners neither act alone nor solely with other human beings.
Xabier Itçaina, Antoine Roger, and Andy Smith
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781501700439
- eISBN:
- 9781501703737
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501700439.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Economy
This chapter shows that four major theory-driven interpretations of change in the European wine industry are incomplete or wrong. More fundamentally, it identifies why the general assumptions about ...
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This chapter shows that four major theory-driven interpretations of change in the European wine industry are incomplete or wrong. More fundamentally, it identifies why the general assumptions about politics, economics, and change that underlie each of these four approaches—namely institutionalist economics, regulationist economics, sociological institutionalism, and actor-network theory—urgently need replacing. The first two of these approaches are excessively materialistic. Although their claims contrast sharply, they both interpret policy and political change as the consequence of exogenously caused changes in stocks of material resources and power. In contrast, analyses based on sociological institutionalism and actor-network theory are insufficient analytically because they give excessive explanatory weight to the interactions between individuals and groups (or objects). In so doing, and despite their considerable differences, they focus on the positioning and repositioning of firms within networks and underestimate the unintentional resonances between differentiated, historically structured, and partially autonomous spaces.Less
This chapter shows that four major theory-driven interpretations of change in the European wine industry are incomplete or wrong. More fundamentally, it identifies why the general assumptions about politics, economics, and change that underlie each of these four approaches—namely institutionalist economics, regulationist economics, sociological institutionalism, and actor-network theory—urgently need replacing. The first two of these approaches are excessively materialistic. Although their claims contrast sharply, they both interpret policy and political change as the consequence of exogenously caused changes in stocks of material resources and power. In contrast, analyses based on sociological institutionalism and actor-network theory are insufficient analytically because they give excessive explanatory weight to the interactions between individuals and groups (or objects). In so doing, and despite their considerable differences, they focus on the positioning and repositioning of firms within networks and underestimate the unintentional resonances between differentiated, historically structured, and partially autonomous spaces.
Paul Langley
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199236596
- eISBN:
- 9780191717079
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199236596.003.0002
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Financial Economics
This chapter sets out four key conceptual themes that provide the tools which help answer the question: how might we conceive of contemporary finance in such a way as to understand qualitative ...
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This chapter sets out four key conceptual themes that provide the tools which help answer the question: how might we conceive of contemporary finance in such a way as to understand qualitative transformations in everyday saving and borrowing routines that forge close relationships between the society and the financial markets? These key conceptual themes are financial networks, financial power, financial identity, and financial dissent. The chapter draws primarily on actor-network theory (ANT) aspects of the scholarship of Michel Foucault, and insights from writers of everyday life.Less
This chapter sets out four key conceptual themes that provide the tools which help answer the question: how might we conceive of contemporary finance in such a way as to understand qualitative transformations in everyday saving and borrowing routines that forge close relationships between the society and the financial markets? These key conceptual themes are financial networks, financial power, financial identity, and financial dissent. The chapter draws primarily on actor-network theory (ANT) aspects of the scholarship of Michel Foucault, and insights from writers of everyday life.
Louise Potvin and Carole Clavier
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199658039
- eISBN:
- 9780191765780
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199658039.003.0005
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health, Epidemiology
Local, community-based action on the determinants of health that aims to reduce social health inequalities requires coordinated actions, mainly in the form of programmes that bring together actors ...
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Local, community-based action on the determinants of health that aims to reduce social health inequalities requires coordinated actions, mainly in the form of programmes that bring together actors from diverse spheres and with diverse interests. This chapter discusses the contribution and limits of the Actor-Network Theory to understand such issues of participation, partnership and intersectoral cooperation in health promotion research and practice. It draws on a broad range of collaborative research projects that have applied the Actor-Network Theory. Overall, this chapter develops four principles to conceptualize how intersectoral programmes work, and to conceptualize their governance. It shows how we translated this conceptualization into research practices, giving examples of the research methods and tools that we designed, based on the Actor-Network Theory, for actors involved in partnership situations. We then consider the utility and limitations of the theory for promoting reflection on such interventions.Less
Local, community-based action on the determinants of health that aims to reduce social health inequalities requires coordinated actions, mainly in the form of programmes that bring together actors from diverse spheres and with diverse interests. This chapter discusses the contribution and limits of the Actor-Network Theory to understand such issues of participation, partnership and intersectoral cooperation in health promotion research and practice. It draws on a broad range of collaborative research projects that have applied the Actor-Network Theory. Overall, this chapter develops four principles to conceptualize how intersectoral programmes work, and to conceptualize their governance. It shows how we translated this conceptualization into research practices, giving examples of the research methods and tools that we designed, based on the Actor-Network Theory, for actors involved in partnership situations. We then consider the utility and limitations of the theory for promoting reflection on such interventions.
Brian P. Bloomfield (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198289395
- eISBN:
- 9780191684692
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198289395.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Information Technology
This book is concerned with the ways in which organizations design, build and use information technology (IT) systems. In particular it looks at the interaction between these IT-centred activities ...
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This book is concerned with the ways in which organizations design, build and use information technology (IT) systems. In particular it looks at the interaction between these IT-centred activities and the broader management processes within organizations. The authors adopt a critical social science perspective on these issues, and are primarily concerned with advancing theoretical debates on how best to understand the related processes of technological and organizational change. To this end, the book examines and deploys recent work on power/knowledge, actor-network theory and critical organization theory. The result is an account of the nature and significance of information systems in organizations, which is an alternative perspective to pragmatic and recipe-based approaches to this topic that dominate much contemporary management literature on IT.Less
This book is concerned with the ways in which organizations design, build and use information technology (IT) systems. In particular it looks at the interaction between these IT-centred activities and the broader management processes within organizations. The authors adopt a critical social science perspective on these issues, and are primarily concerned with advancing theoretical debates on how best to understand the related processes of technological and organizational change. To this end, the book examines and deploys recent work on power/knowledge, actor-network theory and critical organization theory. The result is an account of the nature and significance of information systems in organizations, which is an alternative perspective to pragmatic and recipe-based approaches to this topic that dominate much contemporary management literature on IT.
Grahame F. Thompson
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780198775270
- eISBN:
- 9780191710513
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198775270.003.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies
This book brings some clarity to the discussion of networks. It tests the case as to whether it is possible to construct a clearly demarcated idea of a ‘network’ as a separable form of socio-economic ...
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This book brings some clarity to the discussion of networks. It tests the case as to whether it is possible to construct a clearly demarcated idea of a ‘network’ as a separable form of socio-economic coordination and governance mechanism with its own distinctive logic. In doing this, the primary contrast is to markets and hierarchies as alternative and already well-understood forms of such socio-economic coordination each with its own particular logic. Thus, the focus is on the domain of the socio-economic (which includes political aspects of networks), and it is about the organisational domain of the socio-economic. A distinction is made between network as a conceptual category and network as a social organisation. Three approaches to networks are considered: social network analysis, transaction cost analysis, and actor-network theory. Finally, the book explores the whole area of information and communications technology and networks and how they are argued to be radically transforming the nature of international relations.Less
This book brings some clarity to the discussion of networks. It tests the case as to whether it is possible to construct a clearly demarcated idea of a ‘network’ as a separable form of socio-economic coordination and governance mechanism with its own distinctive logic. In doing this, the primary contrast is to markets and hierarchies as alternative and already well-understood forms of such socio-economic coordination each with its own particular logic. Thus, the focus is on the domain of the socio-economic (which includes political aspects of networks), and it is about the organisational domain of the socio-economic. A distinction is made between network as a conceptual category and network as a social organisation. Three approaches to networks are considered: social network analysis, transaction cost analysis, and actor-network theory. Finally, the book explores the whole area of information and communications technology and networks and how they are argued to be radically transforming the nature of international relations.
Grahame F. Thompson
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780198775270
- eISBN:
- 9780191710513
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198775270.003.0008
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies
This book concludes by summing up the logic and limits of network forms of organisation. It has investigated the contemporary forms of network organisation as seen in the conceptual literature and in ...
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This book concludes by summing up the logic and limits of network forms of organisation. It has investigated the contemporary forms of network organisation as seen in the conceptual literature and in terms of their appearance in concrete empirical settings. The key features of the network model that describe how a certain range of social relations operate that specify a network model of socio-economic coordination and governance have been described. These practices do not operate in the same manner for either hierarchies or markets. The arguments against the actor-network theory of networks have been considered, along with social network analysis and its view of networks as relational organisations.Less
This book concludes by summing up the logic and limits of network forms of organisation. It has investigated the contemporary forms of network organisation as seen in the conceptual literature and in terms of their appearance in concrete empirical settings. The key features of the network model that describe how a certain range of social relations operate that specify a network model of socio-economic coordination and governance have been described. These practices do not operate in the same manner for either hierarchies or markets. The arguments against the actor-network theory of networks have been considered, along with social network analysis and its view of networks as relational organisations.
Isaac Ariail Reed
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780226689319
- eISBN:
- 9780226689593
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226689593.003.0004
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Movements and Social Change
This chapter argues that power has four dimensions—material, relational, discursive, and performative—and addresses the first three. The goal is to unpack how hierarchical ties between rector and ...
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This chapter argues that power has four dimensions—material, relational, discursive, and performative—and addresses the first three. The goal is to unpack how hierarchical ties between rector and actor are formed and how the "negative tie" between the rector-actor dyad and other is forged. The work of Alfred Gell is reconstructed as an ideal way to theorize materiality in the making and unmaking of social relations. Gell's work is contrasted with Actor Network Theory. For understanding relational power, it examines closely the work of John Levi Martin, and, for discursive power, considers Michel Foucault and Jeffrey C. Alexander. For a synthesis of material, relational and discursive power, it considers a key text by Chandra Mukerji. Throughout, the goal of the chapter is to develop these dimensions in relationship to the fundamental problematic of delegation and domination. In this way, sociological theories of power are used to articulate how actors become agents of rectors and how others are excluded. This focus is contrasted to theories of power in society that emphasize differentiation of spheres or zones of activity, such as field theory. The chapter concludes with a consideration of the "mechanization of the world," and an excursus on power and violence.Less
This chapter argues that power has four dimensions—material, relational, discursive, and performative—and addresses the first three. The goal is to unpack how hierarchical ties between rector and actor are formed and how the "negative tie" between the rector-actor dyad and other is forged. The work of Alfred Gell is reconstructed as an ideal way to theorize materiality in the making and unmaking of social relations. Gell's work is contrasted with Actor Network Theory. For understanding relational power, it examines closely the work of John Levi Martin, and, for discursive power, considers Michel Foucault and Jeffrey C. Alexander. For a synthesis of material, relational and discursive power, it considers a key text by Chandra Mukerji. Throughout, the goal of the chapter is to develop these dimensions in relationship to the fundamental problematic of delegation and domination. In this way, sociological theories of power are used to articulate how actors become agents of rectors and how others are excluded. This focus is contrasted to theories of power in society that emphasize differentiation of spheres or zones of activity, such as field theory. The chapter concludes with a consideration of the "mechanization of the world," and an excursus on power and violence.
Bettina Lange
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199282548
- eISBN:
- 9780191700200
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199282548.003.0009
- Subject:
- Law, Philosophy of Law
This chapter examines how new ways of imagining the social can shed further light on the social relations which are engendered when legal regulation is produced and enforced. It concentrates on ...
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This chapter examines how new ways of imagining the social can shed further light on the social relations which are engendered when legal regulation is produced and enforced. It concentrates on actor-network theory, and sociological and cultural perspectives on economic transactions as well as sociological analysis of emotions. It begins by describing the claim that there is an ‘end to social relations’ and argues that the social has been and still is essential for interpreting legal regulation. It also illustrates in more detail how an analysis of regulatory agency and networks can be promoted through the perspective of actor-network theory. In addition, it demonstrates how attention to the social in economic life stresses close links between law and the economy through shared normative practices. Moreover, new organizational forms of a social life, such as networks, question the centrality of bureaucracies in legal regulation. Furthermore, attention turns from analytical to normative issues. The discussion aims to show the importance of a sociological analysis of emotions for understanding the purposes and values which can inform legal regulation and which it may realize.Less
This chapter examines how new ways of imagining the social can shed further light on the social relations which are engendered when legal regulation is produced and enforced. It concentrates on actor-network theory, and sociological and cultural perspectives on economic transactions as well as sociological analysis of emotions. It begins by describing the claim that there is an ‘end to social relations’ and argues that the social has been and still is essential for interpreting legal regulation. It also illustrates in more detail how an analysis of regulatory agency and networks can be promoted through the perspective of actor-network theory. In addition, it demonstrates how attention to the social in economic life stresses close links between law and the economy through shared normative practices. Moreover, new organizational forms of a social life, such as networks, question the centrality of bureaucracies in legal regulation. Furthermore, attention turns from analytical to normative issues. The discussion aims to show the importance of a sociological analysis of emotions for understanding the purposes and values which can inform legal regulation and which it may realize.
Geoffrey Mead and Barbara Barbosa Neves
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781447339946
- eISBN:
- 9781447339984
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447339946.003.0003
- Subject:
- Sociology, Marriage and the Family
This chapter examines two recursive approaches to the study of technology adoption within families and the life course: actor network theory (ANT) and strong structuration theory (SST). These ...
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This chapter examines two recursive approaches to the study of technology adoption within families and the life course: actor network theory (ANT) and strong structuration theory (SST). These recursive approaches explain the reciprocal relationship between social structure and agency in the context of technology use over time. ANT rejects any dualism between technology and society, whereas SST combines structure, agency, and context to offer a comprehensive analysis of users, technologies, and their situational dimensions. The chapter first provides an overview of the theoretical commitments ANT and SST entail for the researcher before discussing the ways in which each has been, and can be, applied in the domains of family and life course studies. It also presents two case studies to illustrate the opportunities and challenges that both recursive approaches bring with them in framing and explaining relationships between technology use, family life, and life transitions.Less
This chapter examines two recursive approaches to the study of technology adoption within families and the life course: actor network theory (ANT) and strong structuration theory (SST). These recursive approaches explain the reciprocal relationship between social structure and agency in the context of technology use over time. ANT rejects any dualism between technology and society, whereas SST combines structure, agency, and context to offer a comprehensive analysis of users, technologies, and their situational dimensions. The chapter first provides an overview of the theoretical commitments ANT and SST entail for the researcher before discussing the ways in which each has been, and can be, applied in the domains of family and life course studies. It also presents two case studies to illustrate the opportunities and challenges that both recursive approaches bring with them in framing and explaining relationships between technology use, family life, and life transitions.
Henning Schmidgen
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780823263691
- eISBN:
- 9780823266555
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823263691.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
The French philosopher and sociologist Bruno Latour (*1947) is a major figure of contemporary thought. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the Latourian oeuvre, from his early ...
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The French philosopher and sociologist Bruno Latour (*1947) is a major figure of contemporary thought. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the Latourian oeuvre, from his early anthropological studies in Abidjan (Ivory Coast) to his influential books like Laboratory Life and Science in Action and his most recent reflections on an empirical metaphysics of “modes of existence.” The book argues that the basic problem to which Latour’s work responds is that of social tradition, i.e. the complex relationship of culture, knowledge, and time. It shows that Latour’s understanding of this problem is deeply informed by his early involvement with Biblical exegesis, in particular the work of the German theologian Rudolf Bultmann. Against this background, the book questions the innovative potential of actor-network theory (ANT) and the fruitfulness of Latour’s philosophical attempts to understand the plurality of “modes of existence.”Less
The French philosopher and sociologist Bruno Latour (*1947) is a major figure of contemporary thought. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the Latourian oeuvre, from his early anthropological studies in Abidjan (Ivory Coast) to his influential books like Laboratory Life and Science in Action and his most recent reflections on an empirical metaphysics of “modes of existence.” The book argues that the basic problem to which Latour’s work responds is that of social tradition, i.e. the complex relationship of culture, knowledge, and time. It shows that Latour’s understanding of this problem is deeply informed by his early involvement with Biblical exegesis, in particular the work of the German theologian Rudolf Bultmann. Against this background, the book questions the innovative potential of actor-network theory (ANT) and the fruitfulness of Latour’s philosophical attempts to understand the plurality of “modes of existence.”
José van Dijck
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199970773
- eISBN:
- 9780199307425
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199970773.003.0002
- Subject:
- Sociology, Culture
This book theorizes social media platforms as distinct microsystems that together form an ecosystem of connective media. To capture the interdependence and interoperability between microsystems and ...
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This book theorizes social media platforms as distinct microsystems that together form an ecosystem of connective media. To capture the interdependence and interoperability between microsystems and ecosystem, Chapter 2 introduces a multi-layered model, which helps analyze the history of a complex phenomenon. Two theoretical approaches that inspired this book, actor-network theory (Latour) and political economy (Castells), offer valid perspectives on the transformation of technology and society, and their combination informs the design of a heuristic model. The proposed model takes apart single platforms into their techno-cultural components (coding technologies, users, and content) and their socio-economic elements (ownership status, governance, business models). But disassembling platforms is not enough: we also need to reassemble the ecosystem of interoperating platforms in order to recognize which norms and mechanisms undergird the construction of online sociality and creativity. A connective approach can only succeed if we take into account the larger cultural matrix in which this assemblage emerged.Less
This book theorizes social media platforms as distinct microsystems that together form an ecosystem of connective media. To capture the interdependence and interoperability between microsystems and ecosystem, Chapter 2 introduces a multi-layered model, which helps analyze the history of a complex phenomenon. Two theoretical approaches that inspired this book, actor-network theory (Latour) and political economy (Castells), offer valid perspectives on the transformation of technology and society, and their combination informs the design of a heuristic model. The proposed model takes apart single platforms into their techno-cultural components (coding technologies, users, and content) and their socio-economic elements (ownership status, governance, business models). But disassembling platforms is not enough: we also need to reassemble the ecosystem of interoperating platforms in order to recognize which norms and mechanisms undergird the construction of online sociality and creativity. A connective approach can only succeed if we take into account the larger cultural matrix in which this assemblage emerged.
Jill P. Koyama
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226451732
- eISBN:
- 9780226451756
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226451756.003.0007
- Subject:
- Education, Educational Policy and Politics
The actor-network theory illuminates the interconnectivity of material objects, human actors, and their environments. The actor network emerges when the multiple actions of those attending to school ...
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The actor-network theory illuminates the interconnectivity of material objects, human actors, and their environments. The actor network emerges when the multiple actions of those attending to school failure flows from one location to many others. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandates and directives implied that school failure would be remedied if people acted according to the policy; as seen in this study. Federal and state mandates develop and achieve salience through specific discourses and actions adopted by local entities. NCLB drove the interface between actors and their environments. The supplemental educational service, which was acclaimed by the federal and local educational authorities as a “parent-choice” program, drew mixed responses from parents. This chapter illustrates how actors came to share recognition of various forms of failure and, further, how they developed robust interventions and implemented action steps. They mutually defined the categorical distinctions of failure and continued to interpret the highly visible and consequential signs, like failing test scores and low marks on progress reports.Less
The actor-network theory illuminates the interconnectivity of material objects, human actors, and their environments. The actor network emerges when the multiple actions of those attending to school failure flows from one location to many others. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandates and directives implied that school failure would be remedied if people acted according to the policy; as seen in this study. Federal and state mandates develop and achieve salience through specific discourses and actions adopted by local entities. NCLB drove the interface between actors and their environments. The supplemental educational service, which was acclaimed by the federal and local educational authorities as a “parent-choice” program, drew mixed responses from parents. This chapter illustrates how actors came to share recognition of various forms of failure and, further, how they developed robust interventions and implemented action steps. They mutually defined the categorical distinctions of failure and continued to interpret the highly visible and consequential signs, like failing test scores and low marks on progress reports.
Roger Cooter and Claudia Stein
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300186635
- eISBN:
- 9780300189438
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300186635.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, Historiography
This chapter presents an analysis of an essay on the material turn in history. It offers a commentary on Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood and criticizes Patrick Joyce's ...
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This chapter presents an analysis of an essay on the material turn in history. It offers a commentary on Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood and criticizes Patrick Joyce's February 2010 article in a leading history journal which was meant to be a historiographically cutting-edge overview of the material turn in history. It considers Bruno Latour's Actor-Network Theory (ANT) and the dominance of neoliberal philosophy of history in the academy.Less
This chapter presents an analysis of an essay on the material turn in history. It offers a commentary on Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood and criticizes Patrick Joyce's February 2010 article in a leading history journal which was meant to be a historiographically cutting-edge overview of the material turn in history. It considers Bruno Latour's Actor-Network Theory (ANT) and the dominance of neoliberal philosophy of history in the academy.
Julian Go
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780190625139
- eISBN:
- 9780190625177
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190625139.003.0004
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Theory
This chapter shows how social theory contains within it a theoretical frame that can help meet the challenge posed by the postcolonial critique: relationalism. The chapter examines how relationalism ...
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This chapter shows how social theory contains within it a theoretical frame that can help meet the challenge posed by the postcolonial critique: relationalism. The chapter examines how relationalism can be mobilized to overcome conventional sociology’s analytic bifurcation. This approach may be looked at as postcolonial relationalism; that is, a relationalism that recognizes the legacies of colonialism. It is relationalism taken to the geopolitical scene, scaled upward and outward to critically apprehend imperial interactions and the enduring legacies that have been for too long covered up by extant social science. The chapter gives two examples of relational theory: Pierre Bourdieu’s field theory and Bruno Latour’s actor-network theory, and mobilizes them to give postcolonial accounts of British industrialization and the French and Haitian revolutions.Less
This chapter shows how social theory contains within it a theoretical frame that can help meet the challenge posed by the postcolonial critique: relationalism. The chapter examines how relationalism can be mobilized to overcome conventional sociology’s analytic bifurcation. This approach may be looked at as postcolonial relationalism; that is, a relationalism that recognizes the legacies of colonialism. It is relationalism taken to the geopolitical scene, scaled upward and outward to critically apprehend imperial interactions and the enduring legacies that have been for too long covered up by extant social science. The chapter gives two examples of relational theory: Pierre Bourdieu’s field theory and Bruno Latour’s actor-network theory, and mobilizes them to give postcolonial accounts of British industrialization and the French and Haitian revolutions.
Kyle McGee (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780748697908
- eISBN:
- 9781474416061
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748697908.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Philosophy of Law
Thirteen essays exploring Bruno Latour's legal theory from a variety of disciplinary perspectives – including a chapter by Bruno Latour responding to the arguments and critiques offered in each ...
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Thirteen essays exploring Bruno Latour's legal theory from a variety of disciplinary perspectives – including a chapter by Bruno Latour responding to the arguments and critiques offered in each chapter. This book develops an exciting new vision for legal theory combining analytical tools drawn from Latour's actor-network theory developed in works like Science in Action, Reassembling the Social and The Making of Law with the philosophical anthropology of the Moderns in An Inquiry into Modes of Existence to blaze an entirely new trail in legal epistemology. Bruno Latour's writings in science and technology studies, anthropology, sociology and philosophy are well-known, but only rarely has his work in law been appreciated as a core element, and still less as an obligatory passage point for students and scholars of law. This collection demonstrates the urgency with which both of those omissions must be reconsidered.Less
Thirteen essays exploring Bruno Latour's legal theory from a variety of disciplinary perspectives – including a chapter by Bruno Latour responding to the arguments and critiques offered in each chapter. This book develops an exciting new vision for legal theory combining analytical tools drawn from Latour's actor-network theory developed in works like Science in Action, Reassembling the Social and The Making of Law with the philosophical anthropology of the Moderns in An Inquiry into Modes of Existence to blaze an entirely new trail in legal epistemology. Bruno Latour's writings in science and technology studies, anthropology, sociology and philosophy are well-known, but only rarely has his work in law been appreciated as a core element, and still less as an obligatory passage point for students and scholars of law. This collection demonstrates the urgency with which both of those omissions must be reconsidered.
