Knowra Actor–network theory Actor–network theory Actor–network theory is a social theory that explains how human and nonhuman actors gain agency and shape outcomes through relationships in heterogeneous networks. It treats social order as something assembled and maintained rather than as a structure that exists in advance.
Translation (actor–network theory) : The process by which actors define problems, recruit others, and align their interests within a network. Translation describes the negotiations through which a network is assembled.
Agency : The capacity to make a difference to events or to act within a situation. ANT identifies agency through effects in relationships rather than human intention alone.
Michel Callon : A French sociologist whose work helped establish actor–network theory in science and technology studies. His analysis of scallop conservation developed the influential vocabulary of translation.
Social constructionism : An approach that explains how social processes produce categories, facts, or institutions. ANT broadens construction accounts by tracing material entities alongside social actors.
Aramis, or the Love of Technology : A 1992 book by Bruno Latour about the failure of an automated personal rapid transit project in Paris. Latour uses the project’s changing alliances to show how technical networks unravel.
Generalized symmetry : A methodological principle that explains human and nonhuman entities in the same analytical terms. It supports tracing people and objects without assuming only humans can make a difference.
Relational sociology : An approach that explains social phenomena through relations among entities rather than isolated attributes. It shares ANT’s emphasis on relations as constitutive of social reality.
Bruno Latour : A French philosopher and sociologist known for studies of science, technology, and actor–network theory. His writings made ANT widely known and developed its account of nonhuman agency.
Methodological individualism : An explanatory approach that accounts for social outcomes through the actions of individuals. ANT instead follows relations among people, objects, and institutions.
The Pasteurization of France : A 1984 book by Bruno Latour analyzing how Louis Pasteur and microbes became influential in French society. It traces scientific influence through laboratories, microbes, institutions, and public life.
Show all 26 Linked from 8 pages Posthumanism Related : It offers a method for analyzing agency distributed across people, objects, and systems.
Technological determinism Compared with : It distributes agency across people, artifacts, and institutions rather than assigning it to technology alone.
Science studies Related : It follows the people, instruments, texts, and materials involved in scientific claims.
Social construction of technology Compared with : It offers a rival account that gives artifacts and material relations a more explicit role.
Technology and society Related : It traces outcomes through linked people, devices, organizations, and rules.
History of Science and Technology Related : It offers a way to trace devices, practitioners, and institutions in historical change.
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