scholarly journals How Does an Entity Acquire Identity? Reassembling Relativistic Physics with Actor-Network Theory

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariano Croce ◽  
Emilia Margoni
Keyword(s):  
Heterogeneous Networks ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Physical State ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Actor Network

AbstractWhat is it that determines the identity of an entity? Processualism is a theoretical perspective that offers a startling answer to this question. The identity of an entity—whether human or nonhuman, animate or inanimate—depends on the set of relations in which this entity is located. And as the sets of relations are several, so are the identities that an entity can take. This article discusses this conclusion by integrating processual accounts from different fields of inquiry, such as relativistic physics and actor-network theory. According to a processual interpretation of relativistic physics, speaking of states of things is but an abstraction. For states come from the introduction of arbitrary (physically meaningless) breakups of the spacetime continuum. Therefore, processes precede states, a process being a set of relations that confers identity on a physical state. According to a processual interpretation of actor-network theory, the same holds true for actors. Again, speaking of states of actors is but an abstraction. For what really acts is heterogeneous networks. When one describes actors in isolation, one is neglecting a whole array of relations with other actors whereby that actor can act or is made to act in such and such a way. These strands of processualism come to the same conclusion as to the identity of entities. These are not characterized by individuality but by individua(bi)lity: they can be differently individuated according to the set of relations one is able to take into account. The main methodological consequence is that, if one intends to describe what an entity is, knowledge of this entity—whether human or nonhuman, animate or inanimate—should be based on progressively less narrow localizations and mappings of the relations it has to other entities.

scholarly journals Probation practice in the information age

2017 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 209-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jake Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Heterogeneous Networks ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Information Age ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Way

This article analyses the implications of the greater use of technology and information in probation practice. Using data generated via an ethnography of probation, the article firstly argues that probation in England and Wales now exists in what scholars would identify as ‘the information age’ (i.e. that computers and other technologies work to define and create probation practice as we know it). The article goes on to use actor-network theory to analyse two ‘heterogeneous networks’ to explore the way in which probation practitioners and the technologies they use interact to create particular forms of practice. The article argues that unless we understand the technology that underpins practice we cannot fully understand practice. Finally, the article considers the implications of this analysis for probation post-Transforming Rehabilitation (TR).

scholarly journals The Actor-Network Theory in the Context of Place-Based Pedagogy

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-178
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Wieszaczewska
Keyword(s):  
Network Theory ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Space And Place ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
Phenomenological Perspective ◽  
Valuable Complement ◽  
Pedagogical Research

Space (and place) is a topic that is often the focus of researchers representing social and humanistic fields. Analyses of the significance of places to individuals and groups are carried out also on the basis of pedagogy. The subdiscipline which particularly emphasises the role of place is ‘place-based pedagogy’, and, on the Polish ground, so-called ‘pedagogika miejsca’. Therefore, pedagogues are interested in ways of giving meanings to places by their users, connections of the arrangement of space with its reception by individuals, space valorising and so on. In this article, the author presents the theoretical perspective of post-constructivism and the actor-network theory proposed by B. Latour and then developed and modified by other researchers, which is one of the most well-known (and recognised) strategies of a post-constructive reflection on reality. It can successfully become an approach in which pedagogical research related to the spaces in which people operate would be carried out, which would be a valuable complement to pedagogical considerations on place that has been known to date as of the phenomenological perspective.

scholarly journals Development aid to water management in Mali: the actors, ‘global’ paradigms, and ‘local’ translations

Afrika Focus ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Cherlet
Keyword(s):  
Network Theory ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Development Aid ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
Theoretical Concepts ◽  
Individual Agency ◽  
The Third

The four empirical articles experiment with different theoretical concepts to present the data. Starting with a genealogical description of the Capacity Building paradigm in the first empirical article, the theorizing subsequently demonstrates that this paradigm gets translated in numerous ways. The third empirical article shows the importance of individual agency in the implementation of the IWRM paradigm, and the last relies on full-blown Actor-Network Theory to describe the network – widespread in time and space – that supports the IWRM paradigm. Although each theoretical perspective emphasizes different aspects of the data, Actor-Network Theory turns out to be the most apt tool to describe the eclectic set of data that was obtained from multi-sited ethnography, interviews, focus group discussions and documents. 

STRUCTURING A SUCCESSFUL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER PROCESS: A CASE STUDY FROM THE PERSPECTIVES OF ACTOR NETWORK THEORY

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huda Ibrahim ◽  
Hasmiah Kasimin
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Technology Transfer ◽  
Transfer Process ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Local Market ◽  
Private Company ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
Technology Transfer Process

An effi cient and effective information technology transfer from developed countries to Malaysia is an important issue as a prerequisite to support the ICT needs of the country to become not only a ICT user but also a ICT producer. One of the factors that infl uences successful information technology transfer is managing the process of how technology transfer occurs in one environment. It involves managing interaction between all parties concerned which requires an organized strategy and action toward accomplishing technology transfer objective in an integrated and effective mode. Using a conceptual framework based on the Actor Network Theory (ANT), this paper will analyse a successful information technology transfer process at a private company which is also a supplier of information technology (IT) products to the local market. This framework will explain how the company has come up with a successful technology transfer in a local environment. Our study shows that the company had given interest to its relationships with all the parties involved in the transfer process. The technology transfer programme and the strategy formulated take into account the characteristics of technology and all those involved.  

The Action of Christian Buildings on their Chinese Environment

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 100-121
Author(s):  
Michel Chambon
Keyword(s):  
Network Theory ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Active Part ◽  
Architectural Style ◽  
Actor Network

This article explores the ways in which Christians are building churches in contemporary Nanping, China. At first glance, their architectural style appears simply neo-Gothic, but these buildings indeed enact a rich web of significances that acts upon local Christians and beyond. Building on Actor-Network Theory and exploring the multiple ties in which they are embedded, I argue that these buildings are agents acting in their own right, which take an active part in the process of making the presence of the Christian God tangible.

The model of an intelligent information security control system for supply chains based on the spatial concepts of the actor-network theory

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 94-106
Author(s):  
Y.M. Iskanderov ◽  
◽  
M.D. Pautov
Keyword(s):  
Control System ◽  
Information Security ◽  
Supply Chains ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Spatial Concepts ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
Information Security Management System ◽  
Security Control ◽  
Intelligent Information

Aim. The use of modern information technologies makes it possible to achieve a qualitatively new level of control in supply chains. In these conditions, ensuring information security is the most important task. The article shows the possibilities of applying the spatial concepts of the actor-network theory in the interests of forming a relevant intelligent information security management system for supply chains. Materials and methods. The article discusses a new approach based on the provisions of the actor-network theory, which makes it possible to form the structure of an intelligent information security control system for supply chains, consisting of three main functional blocks: technical, psychological and administrative. The incoming information security threats and the relevant system responses generated through the interaction of the system blocks were considered as enacting the three Law’s spaces: the space of regions, the space of networks and the space of fl uids. Results. It is shown that the stability of this system in the space of networks is a necessary condition for its successful functioning in the space of regions, and its resilience in the space of fl uids gained through the dynamic knowledge formation helps overcome the adverse effects of the fl uidity. The problems of the intentional / unintentional nature of information security threats, as well as the reactivity / proactivity of the corresponding responses of the intelligent information security management system for supply chains are investigated. Conclusions. The proposed approach showed the possibility of using such an interdisciplinary tool in the fi eld of information security as the concepts of the actor-network theory. The intelligent information security control system built on its basis ensures that almost all the features of solving information security problems in supply chains are taken into account.

Death Sentencing by Zoom: An Actor-Network Theory Analysis

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milena Heinsch ◽  
Tania Sourdin ◽  
Caragh Brosnan ◽  
Hannah Cootes
Keyword(s):  
Network Theory ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Theory Analysis ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
Death Sentencing
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