Landscape from an Actor-Network Theory Perspective

LAN Houses1 have featured as key locations for thousands of Brazilians who otherwise would have no access to the internet. Thus, the scope of this study is to investigate the implementation and sustainability trajectory of a LAN House from an actor-network theory (ANT) perspective. In order to achieve this, single-case study methodology was adopted to address the implementation and sustainability of a LAN House in Jardim Catarina, city of São Gonçalo in the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The result of this investigation supports the importance of government programs and actions as key actors to implement and sustain these endeavours. Lastly, it becomes clear that a LAN House is not actually a digital inclusion agent, despite its relevance to regions with lower rates of income, since the owner performs the role of 'digital dealer', whereby most of LAN House users are precluded from being digitally included.

This paper aims to examine the services offered by Taiwan industrial innovation base. Analysis of Taiwan fashion Institute from the perspective of actor network theory and to identify the service ecosystem and the necessity of value co-creation by using the system view and value co-creation concept in service science. Taking the service design and innovation initiatives in Xiyuan 29 Fashion Institute of Taipei as a case study. The development of the fashion industry innovation base is actually affected by the actor network system. The actor network are composed of the human actors, such as clothing industrial cluster manufacturers, local residents, local government groups, industrial investors, consumers and non-human actors include fashion apparel, industrial cluster business environment, local characteristics of cultural landscape, innovative research and development base, the theme of marketing and campaign promotion, government counseling resources etc. To continue and expand fashion institute actor network, it constantly includes various provide industry innovation technology and services. Although each of the actors in the actor network of fashion innovation base influences one another. The process and outcomes shed light on the service innovation practices for fashion industrial innovation base, and their relations are not necessarily equal. According to the study, from the actor network to think, the government to help the traditional textile industry to upgrade the transformation of fashion industry innovation base through the promotion of service innovation, the future will be able to industrial network structure and relationship to effectively adjust and change.

연구 목적: 이 연구는 자발적 긱워커들의 일의 의미를 심층 탐색하여 확장된 긱워커의 개념을 논의하고, 새로운 근로 형태를 추구하는 성인 교육의 방향성과 사회적, 경제적, 제도적 통찰력을 제공하고자 한다.연구 방법: 이메일 면담과 1:1 심층면담을 통한 질적 사례 연구를 실시하였다.연구 내용: 자발적 긱워커가 생각하는 일의 의미, 삶의 만족 및 행위자 네트워크적 특징들을 살펴보았다.결론 및 제언: 기존의 개념으로는 우리 사회의 다양한 형태의 자발적 긱워커들을 충분히 정의할 수 없으며, 이들이 가진 일에 대한 인식과 긱워킹 현상은 기질, 흥미, 정체성과 연관이 있었음을 밝혔다. 또한 자발적 긱워커들은 여러 가지 일을 하고 있는 것에 대해 전반적인 만족감을 느꼈으며 이는 ANT의 관점으로 보았을 때 이들이 속해 있는 네트워크 속에서 현시대의 상황과 맞물려 더욱 강한 결속 관계를 맺기 때문인 것으로 드러났다. 본 연구를 통해 일의 의미와 확장된 긱워커에 대한 개념이 규명된다면 향후 성인 교육의 방향성과 노동시장의 사회적, 경제적 제도 개선에 대한 통찰력을 제공할 수 있을 것이다.

Sport and Technology: An Actor-Network Theory Perspective is a much needed in-depth engagement of academic sporting literature with actor-network theory (ANT). Whilst ANT has been touched on by sch...

E-commerce poverty alleviation has become a new wisdom in China’s rural poverty alleviation, but there are a few empirical researches on e-commerce poverty alleviation based on farmer cooperatives. Taking four typical poverty counties in Zhejiang Province as an example, based on the actor network theory (ANT), this paper defines the participants and their obligatory passage point (OPP) from the e-commerce poverty alleviation actor network (EPAAN), combs the roles and interest demands of various stakeholders, and constructs the EPAAN model based on farmer cooperatives according to the translation process. We found that the EPAAN is a heterogeneous network by constantly updating, which consists of human actors with cooperatives as the main body and non-human actors. Moreover, our study illustrates that the formation and operation mechanism of cooperative e-commerce poverty alleviation network alliance under the background of targeted poverty alleviation can be well analyzed with the help of actor network theory. This study contributes to provide a feasible Chinese plan for the cause of poverty eradication all over the world, and provides a great reference value for global poverty governance.

This study started from a critical awareness of the ontological position of technology in mathematics teaching and learning. Based on the perspective of Actor-Network Theory(ANT), we consider teaching and learning as a network and focus on the agency that emerges from the combination of human actors and non-human actors. The results of research with comparing data sets tasks based on the concepts of distribution and sample with elementary school students in grades 5 showed that the key actors were teachers and students, technology such as graphs, diagrams, TinkerPlots, and the concepts of distribution and sample. Through the translation of these actors, it was possible to confirm how the network is constructed. Bar graphs interessement students through the length or color of the bars, dot plots interessement through an environment for drawing various diagrams, and TinkerPlots interessement through utilizing different functions. Non-human actors have changed students from focusing only on a single data to considering various aspects of distribution. In addition, students form a concept image of distribution and make a inference using representative values and distribution. This means that mathematical concepts are expanded and distributed among various actors in the mathematics teaching and learning network.

Organisations employ different strategic tools such as Competitive Intelligence (CI) to enable and support their goals and objectives, periodically. Unfortunately, the tools do not seem to resolve the challenges that they were deployed for. This could be attributed to the fact that there is too much focus on the tools, and less attention on the social interaction which occurs in the process. The CI is deployed by many organisations primarily to collect and analyse relevant data for decision making, and competitive advantage. However, CI products are deployed in various ways, and in different contexts. CI products differ in many ways such as in terms of compatibility and functionalities that they offer. These are some of the factors that are driven and shaped by non-technical interplay. How organisations deploy CI products has been a challenge, and it is difficult to understand. Some organisations did acquire CI products, unfortunately, they could not make use of it as intended. This is attributed to compatibility challenges which they encountered during the implementation of the product. This is the primary motivation for this article. A qualitative case study research was conducted in order to examine how CI products are deployed in organisations. Analysis of the data was done, using the Moments of Translation from the perspective of actor network theory to understand how the interaction and interplay amongst actors, shapes and deployment of CI in the organisation that deploys it.

Organisations employ different strategic tools such as Competitive Intelligence (CI) to enable and support their goals and objectives, periodically. Unfortunately, the tools do not seem to resolve the challenges that they were deployed for. This could be attributed to the fact that there is too much focus on the tools, and less attention on the social interaction which occurs in the process. The CI is deployed by many organisations primarily to collect and analyse relevant data for decision making, and competitive advantage. However, CI products are deployed in various ways, and in different contexts. CI products differ in many ways such as in terms of compatibility and functionalities that they offer. These are some of the factors that are driven and shaped by non-technical interplay. How organisations deploy CI products has been a challenge, and it is difficult to understand. Some organisations did acquire CI products; unfortunately, they could not make use of it as intended. This is attributed to compatibility challenges which they encountered during the implementation of the product. This is the primary motivation for this article. A qualitative case study research was conducted in order to examine how CI products are deployed in organisations. Analysis of the data was done, using the Moments of Translation from the perspective of actor network theory to understand how the interaction and interplay amongst actors, shapes and deployment of CI in the organisation that deploys it.   Key words: Competitive intelligence, organisations, information, communication, translation.

This study argues that the relationship between new information and communication technologies (ICT) and social movements should be done from a socio-technical perspective. In the present study, we broaden this perspective and use Actor-Network Theory (ANT) to better understand the relationship between social media (as a new ICT) and social movements. From the perspective of ANT, one cannot define unidirectional causal relationships between the social and the technical. New technical developments create opportunities to change the social order and in the meantime technologies are transformed and are adapted differently by humans. Preliminary findings examining the use of Facebook among Iranians, applying the aforementioned relational sociology perspective based on ANT, suggest that the role new ICTs play in social movements and social change is not linear and constant through time. The impact of new ICTs might be different considering different stages in a social movement timeline. In fact, there may be a stage where ICTs actually function as a sort of pressurerelease value, allowing individuals to remain content within the status quo rather than choosing to pursue more radical goals. We propose the utilization of the two concepts of “durability” and “mobility”, from ANT literature, to better understand the potential of online social networking technologies for social change. We suggest three different time stages as short (emergence of movements), mid (development or decline of movements), and late stage (the movement’s continuation, survival or disappearance through time) to be considered in the study of relationship between social media and social change.

Summary Places, architecture, and materiality matter for social work. We aim to start a conversation between critical geographical and actor-network theory perspectives through an empirical analysis of two Danish job center sites to get a better understanding of the agency of social work architecture. Critical geographical perspectives offer conceptualizations of how place is produced and how this production is shaped by changing relations of dominance and power. However, they risk ending in a somewhat unsatisfying totalizing perspective when attempting to understand interventions performed and acted out by social workers. Actor network theory concepts of connections, scripts, and plug-ins are useful for understanding the enactment of social work practice in particular architectures, but they lose sight of how connections are molded by relations of power and political rationalities. Findings We explore the silent politics of an enabling and welcoming environment and the loud politics of interdictory spaces in two job center locations. We show that the social work architecture shapes professional roles, induce forms of conduct and interactions between social workers and young unemployed people. We highlight how the enactment of social work architecture is filled with ambivalences when social workers navigate political place production. We argue that taking into account the complementarity of critical geographical perspectives and actor-network theory might succumb the limitations of both. Applications We lack conceptualizations of the role of social work architecture in social work. The article aims to start a reflection on this in social work research and professional social work practice.

The geographical widespread apart of communities in South Africa is increasingly a challenge in the delivery of healthcare services. COVID-19 pandemic emergency has impacted the South African health care system directly. As a result, mobile devices have been employed in recent years. However, the devices are not challenge-free, and have constrained healthcare service delivering in many instances, at various locations. As such, communities in rural areas continue to bear the brunt, which negatively affect their wellbeing. This study was therefore undertaken to provide critical analysis of how the devices can be better employed and utilised, to improve healthcare service delivery in the country. The study applied qualitative case study, and the data was analysed exhausting the Actor Network Theory (ANT). The researchers employed the documentation review approach within the healthcare sector. Healthcare documents enabled the researchers to gain more understanding of the role of ICT within healthcare and the data gathered through the healthcare document review was analysed using the Moments of Translation from the ANT perspective. Thereafter, a framework was developed to guide the delivery of healthcare services through the use of mobile devices. The primary aim of the framework, is to give guidance on what should be considered by healthcare in order to deliver a good service in South Africa.

In a perspective derived from actor-network theory (ANT), ‘risk’ can be considered as a specific assemblage of heterogeneous entities as well as a proliferation of hybrids. The concept and ideas of ANT offer a meaningful approach to addressing the hybridity and heterogeneity of complex assemblages of risk. Furthermore, the theory provides a theoretical vocabulary to analyse settings of risk and disasters. Especially for ex post analysis of disasters, ANT is able to identify errors in process chains and management practice. In this regard, it deals with questions of stability/instability in management and organisations within the broader context of risk governance. The article discusses the following questions from an ANT perspective: What is ‘risk’ and how can it be managed? What are the general implications and benefits of an ANT approach to disaster risk management? In what ways does an ANT approach challenge some of the conventional wisdoms in the field of disaster risk management? The article shows the potential of ANT as an analytical tool in disaster risk management and as a tool for planning, design and decision-making.

Along with the development of Internet technology and integrated with the theory of instruction and culture of the organization, the conception of “Network Learning(NL)” has gone through “e-Learning/Education” to “Networked e-Learning/e-Education”, then to “Networked Learning.” However, one aspect, the conception of NL, cannot escape the language system of traditional epistemology and the dualism of science and culture. Another aspect, the development of the network society requires the NL to expand its meaning. This article aims to reconstruct the conception of “NL”. Based on the literature review of existed studies on NL, at the perspective of Actor-Network Theory, an etymology study is carried out. The result shows that the new conception of “NL”, includes three meanings of technological, social and philosophical levels. Firstly, the “NL” at the technological level refers to the general learning activities by means of Internet technology. Secondly, the “NL” at the social level refers to the learning environment or context which aims to improve the interaction, communication and cooperation among learners. Ultimately, “NL” at the philosophical level refers to the basic form of the existence of learning life which is the heterogeneous network constructed around the knowledge. It is expected to become the new mode of education in the near future with the integration of learning as ontology, epistemology and methodology.

The relationship between literature and society has been a subject of continuous exploration since the inception of literature itself.On the one hand, from Plato's theory of mimesis onward, literature has consistently been viewed as a representation of social reality, positioning literature as subordinate to society.On the other hand, with the rise of structuralism and the New Criticism, certain schools of thought have focused exclusively on literature itself, deliberately overlooking the complex connections between literature and society.The growing tension between these two perspectives has increasingly placed contemporary literary studies in a polarized state, leading to a crisis in the legitimacy of literary scholarship.In response to this, Rita Felski's exploration of the uses of literature embodies a new literary sociology that offers a way out of the current impasse in literary studies.

이 글은 최근 미국이 추진하고 있는 공공외교의 전략과 이를 둘러싼 세계정치의 동학을 살펴보았다. 특히 이 글은 미국이 세계 국가들과의 관계 속에서 어떻게 공공외교의 네트워크를 구축해 가는지, 그리고 그 과정에서 트위터, 페이스북, 유튜브 등과 같은 소셜 미디어는 어떠한 영향을 미치는지를 탐구하였다. 이러한 시도를 통해서 밝히고자 한것은, 미국이 추구하는 공공외교 전략에 대한 단순한 서술이 아니라, 정부뿐만 아니라 다양한 민간 행위자들, 그리고 주변의 물질적 환경 변수까지도 복합적으로 관련되면서 펼쳐지는 네트워크 세계정치의 동학이었다. 이러한 공공외교의 동학을 좀 더 분석적으로 살펴보기 위해서 이 글은 과학기술 사회학 분야에서 이루어진 행위자-네트워크 이론(Actor-Network Theory, ANT)의 시각을 원용하였다. 국제정치학의 시각에서 도입한 ANT는 공공외교의 세계정치에서 작동하는 비인간 행위자(non-human actor)라는 변수, 특히 인터넷 미디어의 연속선상에서 본 소셜 미디어가 미국의 공공외교 전략에 미치는 영향과 한계를 이해하는 데 매우 유용한 이론적 자원을 제공한다.