1. ACTOR NETWORK THEORY

2. Latour
 French sociologist of science
 Influential theorist in STS
 Developer of ANT
 Influenced by Harold Garfinkel’s
ethnomethodology , generative semiotics of
Griemas and maverick sociology of Gabriel
Tarde.
 Latour, Bruno (1991), ‘Technology is society
made durable’

3. Tatnall & Gilding
Arthur Tatnall Anthony Gilding
 Associate professor at the  Doctor of Philosophy in the
University of Victoria, Faculty of Education
Graduate School of  Co-author to ‘Actor
Business Network theory and
Information Systems
Research

4. Bardini
 French sociologist
 Authored papers and books on innovation ,
sociology of technology & hypermedia
 Author of ‘Bootstrapping: Douglas Engelbart,
Coevolution, and the Origins of Personal
Computing, a book about Douglas Engelbart's
career and the rise and fall of the Augumentation
Research Centre at Standford Research Institute.
 Bardini, Thierry (2000) ‘Inventing the virtual user’

5. Actor Network Theory
Innovation =/= SOCIAL CONTEXT
=/=TECHNICAL CONTENT
BUT: Innovation=SOCIO-TECHNICAL

6. Principles of ANT
 Agnosticism: analytical impartiality is
required when examining actors involved
 Generalised Symmetry: explains the
conflicting viewpoints from a neutral
standpoint.
 Free Association: abandoning any distinction
between the social and natural phenomenon
(Ritzer Encyclopedia)

7. Breaking it down
Actor Network
 Interconnected system of things
 Not a single point
or people
object/entity, but a
 “becomes durable partly due to
simplified network the durability of the bonds that
hold it together”
 Consisting of a network of
 “Networks are always unreliable
other actors influencing its
and can become unstable. The
existence. E.g Newton’s entry of new actors, desertion of
theory of gravitation. existing actors and changes in
alliances can cause black boxes
of networked actors to be
opened and their contents
reconsidered” Tatnall & Gilding

11. Concepts in ANT
 Translation/transformation- “the means by
which one entity gives a role onto others”
 “translation involves all the strategies
through which an actor identifies other actors
and arranges them in relation to eachother”

12. Moments in Translation
 Problematisation
 Interessement
 Enrolment
 Mobilisation of allies
www.en.wiki.org/wiki/Actor-Network_Theory

13. Dimensions of Translation
Association Substitution
 Akin to linguist’s syntagm (  Akin to paradigm
analysis of syntax or (generally accepted
surface structure as perspective)
opposed to paradigm)

14. Criticism
 Amoral (Bjiker) not a necessity
 Equality of all actors: power struggle within
network
 ANT case studies are often highly descriptive
and, not providing explanations  6 Degrees
of separation

15. Questions
 “Actor-Network theory has been used to
investigate the success of a number of technical
innovations and in particular, to describe a
number of heroic failures.” (Tatnall & Gilding)
Identify a failed innovation and its actors.
 Despite the fact ANT tells us that the separation
of the two elements (social & technical) is the
right way to approach innovation, would you
consider the ANT a better approach if not vague?

16. Linkies
 http://www.sagepub.com/upm-
data/5222_Ritzer__Entries_beginning_with_A__%5
B1%5D.pdf
 http://carbon.cudenver.edu/~mryder/itc_data/ant_df
f.html
 http://www.learning-theories.com/actor-network-
theory-ant.html
 http://www.istheory.yorku.ca/actornetworktheory.ht
m
 http://72.14.235.132/search?q=cache:rop1gI20nHEJ:
www.heterogeneities.net/publications/Law-
ANTandMaterialSemiotics.pdf+origins+of+actor+net
work+theory&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=au
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actor-Network_Theory