scholarly journals Spatial evolution path of Gulangyu Island historical international community: from the perspective of actor-network theory

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuan Li ◽  
Jing Guo ◽  
Long Zhao ◽  
Yiping Chen ◽  
Cheng Wang ◽  
...  

AbstractGulangyu Island is a special case of social development and changes since modern China. In the past, Chinese and foreign people lived together and Chinese and Western cultures coexisted, resulting in an international community with outstanding cultural diversity and modern quality of life. As a functional carrier, space is of great reference significance to the research on the spatial evolution path of the Gulangyu international community with the accelerating globalization and rapid expansion of urbanization. Based on the interpretation of historical maps and the integration of historical geographic information, this paper explores the evolution path of Gulangyu community space in modern times from the perspective of actor-network theory. It is found that: (1) The change of key actors promotes the spatial evolution of the Gulangyu international community. (2) In the stage of foreign culture dissemination (1840–1902), foreign nationals, as key actors, promoted the formation and development of actor-networks through administrative recruitment and other means, and promoted Gulangyu Island to change from a traditional Minnan community to a modern community form, with the embryonic form of an international community beginning to emerge. (3) In the stage of multicultural integration (1903–1940), overseas Chinese returning home became key actors. The concept of a combination of Western cultures was not only embodied in community management but also acted on space practice to promote the multicultural integration of the Gulangyu international community. This paper summarizes the effects of various factors on the evolution of community space, to provide a reference for other coastal cities to rationally develop islands and promote the multicultural integration of local communities.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuan Li ◽  
Jing Guo ◽  
Long Zhao ◽  
Yiping Chen ◽  
Cheng Wang ◽  
...  

Abstract Gulangyu Island is a special case of social development and changes since modern China. In the past, Chinese and foreign people lived together and Chinese and Western cultures coexisted, resulting in an international community with outstanding cultural diversity and modern quality of life. As a functional carrier, space is of great reference significance to the research on the spatial evolution path of Gulangyu international community with the accelerating globalization and rapid expansion of urbanization. Based on the interpretation of historical maps and the integration of historical geographic information, this paper explores the evolution path of Gulangyu community space in modern times from the perspective of actor network theory. It is found that: (1) The change of key actors promotes the spatial evolution of Gulangyu international community. (2) In the stage of foreign culture dissemination (1840-1902), foreign nationals, as key actors, promoted the formation and development of actor networks through administrative recruitment and other means, and promoted Gulangyu Island to change from a traditional Minnan community to a modern community form, with the embryonic form of an international community beginning to emerge. (3) In the stage of multicultural integration (1903-1940), overseas Chinese returning home became key actors. The concept of combination of Western cultures was not only embodied in community management, but also acted on space practice to promote the multicultural integration of Gulangyu international community. This paper summarizes the effects of various factors on the evolution of community space, in order to provide reference for other coastal cities to rationally develop islands and promote the multicultural integration of local communities.


Author(s):  
Tiko Iyamu ◽  
Dewald Roode

In the current climate of global competitiveness, many organisations are increasingly dependent on their IT strategy – either to increase their competitiveness, or often just to survive. Yet little is known about the non-technical influencing factors (such as people) and their impact on the development and implementation of IT strategy. There would therefore seem to be prima facie evidence that there is a need for a new approach to examining the relationships between social factors, technology and the organisation with respect to the development and implementation of IT strategy. This article seeks to make a contribution in this regard. Structuration Theory and Actor-Network Theory were employed to analyse how non-technical factors influence IT strategy. Structuration Theory holds that human actions are enabled and constrained by structures. Structures are rules and resources that do not exist independently of human action, nor are they material entities. Giddens describes them as ‘traces in the mind’ and argues that they exist only through the action of human beings. Actor Network Theory (ANT) provides a fresh perspective on the importance of relationships between actors that are both human and non-human. By their very presence, actors work to establish, maintain and revise the construction of organisational networks of aligned interests and gradually form stable actor-networks. ANT emphasises the heterogeneous nature of actor-networks which consist of and link together both technical and non-technical elements.


2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Till Jansen

Actor-Network-Theory (ANT) offers an ‘infra-language’ of the social that allows one to trace social relations very dynamically, while at the same time dissolving human agency, thus providing a flat and de-centred way into sociology. However, ANT struggles with its theoretical design that may lead us to reduce agency to causation and to conceptualize actor-networks as homogeneous ontologies of force. This article proposes to regard ANT’s inability to conceptualize reflexivity and the interrelatedness of different ontologies as the fundamental problem of the theory. Drawing on Günther, it offers an ‘infra-language’ of reflexive relations while maintaining ANT’s de-centred approach. This would enable us to conceptualize actor-networks as non-homogeneous, dynamic and connecting different societal rationales while maintaining the main strengths of ANT.


Organization ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 781-799 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joe O’Mahoney ◽  
Hannah O’Mahoney ◽  
Ismael Al-Amoudi

The endangered loggerhead sea-turtle ( Caretta caretta) nests on the shores of the Mediterranean, but faces threats to its existence from a variety of sources. Answering the question of how this species can survive is complex as it involves examining the relationships between the turtle, its natural environment, local tourists, property developers, conservation organisations, governments and law-makers. We argue that actor-network theory provides a powerful methodology for tracing these relations and identifying crucial actors which enable the survival of this animal. Using a rich ethnography and drawing on insights from 116 interviews, we trace three actor-networks that highlight factors important to the survival of the species. Yet, we also highlight the conceptual difficulties that result from using an actor-network theory ontology for understanding socio-ecological interactions and argue that these may be ameliorated by embedding the actor-network theory methodology within a critical realist ontology. We argue that this engagement between critical realism and actor-network theory offers researchers a powerful method for understanding relations between socio-ecological actors while overcoming some of the theoretical difficulties of actor-network theory.


Author(s):  
Trine Schreiber

Using actor network theory (ANT) as a starting point, the aim of the paper is to describe relationships between heterogenous actors in a particular kind of library work and to discuss how these relationships might potentially be part of a preliminary actor-network representing a profession of librarianship. The particular kind of library work involved in the discussion is user teaching and -guidance in libraries affiliated with educational institutions. The paper draws on this particular kind of work to illustrate the use of ANT in a discussion about the profession of librarianship. The data collection procedure has been guided by ethnographic methodology considerations. As an actor-network, a profession is not a static entity organised around fixed connections. It is undergoing shifts in character as new actors or relations are forged and old ones wear out. Regarding the particular kind of library work, the paper has a focus on actors such as librarians, teachers, students, digital technologies, and political paradigms of control. The author examines how librarians in the particular kind of library work create and maintain relationships with teachers and students. The paper provides a description of the ways influential actors such as digital technologies and political paradigms of control intervene in these processes. The paper concludes that through these relationships, new areas of work and new understandings of professions are under way to be established. These processes might lead to an actor-network intertwined with those many other actor-networks that librarians in general are involved in because of other practices and relationships.


Author(s):  
Alison RIEPLE ◽  
Antonius VAN DEN BROEK

In this paper we illustrate the utility of actor-network theory (ANT) as a methodological approach to understand the effect of the eclectic characteristics of design firms on their strategy development processes. The need for creativity, expertise knowledge and the constant need to innovate suggest that the mainstream strategy or decision-making theories provide unsatisfying insights into how strategy of the design firm emerges. These culture laden organisations often operate with limited formality, therefore require attention to the social side of decision-making. To address this rich complex social-fabric of decision-making, we suggest to study strategy development as the result of the formation of actor-networks. By illustration of data collected from 13 interviews with design firms in mainly Europe and a longitudinal study of a global digital design firm, we illustrate how an ANT-based approach allows theorists to analyse the rich cultural complexity of design firms’ decision-making in a focused and coherent manner.


Author(s):  
Fabienne Kürner ◽  
Caroline Kramer ◽  
Hartmut Klüver ◽  
Stefan Norra

Global warming alters the Arctic on different ecological and social levels, including rising resource availabilities and shifting power relations. In this geographical area, the natural sphere, which is based on the geographical spheres of the earth, and the social sphere are strongly interwoven and therefore sensitive to even small alterations, as a case study of Arctic shipping routes will highlight. The principles of Actor-Network theory enable the investigation of interdependencies, resulting in an equal treatment of both mentioned spheres. Based on this theoretical background and a qualitative literature research, mediators of Arctic actor-networks located in the overlapping zone between these spheres have been identified. An enlarged ecosystem services approach was then adopted to develop a methodology to quantify these mediators and the power relations around them. Apart from the equality of the natural and the social, crediting both higher influences over the respectively other domain, mental entities were recognized as core-elements of Arctic networks, further linking the natural and the social sphere. Moreover, global, regional and local interdependencies have been included into the analyses, contributing ultimately to a wider understanding of actor-networks of the High North, which is of importance to scientists, public and policy makers in order to cope future global challenges, like climate change.


2016 ◽  
pp. 1314-1330
Author(s):  
Carlos Páscoa ◽  
José Tribolet

There are various models proposed in the literature to analyze trajectories of enterprise change projects in terms of success and failure. Yet, only the Actor-Network Theory (ANT) perspective considers the interaction factors among network actors and actants. In 2009, with an initiative started in 2007, the Portuguese Air Force developed and carried on a Change project. The aim of this project was to obtain better information to support decision processes. This chapter proposes the ANT for approaching the Portuguese Air Force change process initiative as a case study. In doing so, it provides valuable insight in terms of both local and global actor networks, which surround the initiative.


Author(s):  
Stephen Fox ◽  
David Vickers

This chapter addresses the question: Is there a virtuous circle between situated learning within communities of practice and the corporate pursuit of innovation in large companies? The authors trace a succession of ways in which it has been formulated, reframed, and addressed across a range and sequence of qualitative studies. Overall, they argue for more ethnographic studies of organizational learning and innovation and recommend further use of actor-network theory, which has potential to add considerably to communities of practice theory. The authors illustrate this argument in the chapter through a discussion of Carlile's (2002) important paper and cite a number of other studies that use actor-network theory in combination with communities of practice theory.


Author(s):  
Carlos Páscoa ◽  
José Tribolet

There are various models proposed in the literature to analyze trajectories of enterprise change projects in terms of success and failure. Yet, only the Actor-Network Theory (ANT) perspective considers the interaction factors among network actors and actants. In 2009, with an initiative started in 2007, the Portuguese Air Force developed and carried on a Change project. The aim of this project was to obtain better information to support decision processes. This chapter proposes the ANT for approaching the Portuguese Air Force change process initiative as a case study. In doing so, it provides valuable insight in terms of both local and global actor networks, which surround the initiative.


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