Authenticity in Online Religion

2019 ◽  
pp. 540-551
Author(s):  
Meng Yoe Tan
Keyword(s):  
Religious Experience ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Bruno Latour ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
The Subject

In this article, the subject of online religion and how it can be researched is discussed. The dynamics of religious experience, authority, communication and more is subject of much discussion both in academia and religious discourses primarily because of the seemingly immaterial realm that is cyberspace. This article examines unique aspects of the nature of online religion and pays particular attention to the fluidity of online/offline relations and the subject of “authenticity” in the realm of online religion. Following from that is the discussion of how actor-network theory (ANT), first developed by Bruno Latour, can be deployed as a useful methodological approach to researching online religion, and to navigate potentially deterministic and oppositional discourses of online/offline relations.

Authenticity in Online Religion

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meng Yoe Tan
Keyword(s):  
Religious Experience ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Bruno Latour ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
The Subject

In this article, the subject of online religion and how it can be researched is discussed. The dynamics of religious experience, authority, communication and more is subject of much discussion both in academia and religious discourses primarily because of the seemingly immaterial realm that is cyberspace. This article examines unique aspects of the nature of online religion and pays particular attention to the fluidity of online/offline relations and the subject of “authenticity” in the realm of online religion. Following from that is the discussion of how actor-network theory (ANT), first developed by Bruno Latour, can be deployed as a useful methodological approach to researching online religion, and to navigate potentially deterministic and oppositional discourses of online/offline relations.

Talking about Associations and Descriptions or a Short Story about Associology

2017 ◽  
pp. 220-233
Author(s):  
Beate Ochsner
Keyword(s):  
Short Story ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Bruno Latour ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Human Actors ◽  
Agency And Structure

In 1999, Bruno Latour advocated for “abandoning what was wrong with ANT, that is ‘actor,' ‘network,' ‘theory' without forgetting the hyphen.” However, it seems that the “hyphen,” which brings with it the operation of hyphenating or connecting, was abandoned too quickly. If one investigates what something is by asking what it is meant as well as how it emerges, by (re-)tracing the strategy in materials in situated practices and sets of relations, and, by bypassing the distinction between agency and structure, one shifts from studying “what causes what” to describing “how things happen.” This perspective not only makes it necessary for us to clarify the changing positions and displacements of human and non-human actors in the assemblage, but, also question the role (the enrolment) of the researcher him/herself: What kind of “relation” connects the researcher to his/her research and associates him/her with the subject, how to prevent (or not) his/her own involvement, and, to what degree s/he ignores the relationality of his/her writing in a “sociology of association?”

scholarly journals Aspectos teórico-metodológicos para análise de campanhas eleitorais online no twitter: do mapeamento das redes às conversações │ Theoretical and methodological issues for the analysis of online campaigns on Twitter: networks and conversations

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronaldo Ferreira Araujo
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
The Subject

RESUMO Discorre sobre as chamadas campanhas eleitorais online e apresenta uma proposta teórico-metodológica para estudos sobre o tema por meio de abordagens centradas na Conversação Mediada por Computador (CMC), na Actor Network Theory (ANT) e na Análise de Redes Sociais (ARS), com foco no Twitter. A proposta contribui para o mapeamento da rede e da conversação que se forma em torno do engajamento cívico em períodos eleitorais e favorece o rompimento da centralização, que geralmente tem foco no desempenho dos agentes políticos, dando uma visão distribuída e de uso dialógico do microblog. Percebe-se que os agentes políticos ainda enfrentam o desafio da interatividade e conversação, e reforçamos que análises direcionadas aos conteúdos das mensagens compartilhadas devem observar: os limites e condicionamentos do microblog; os aspectos do discurso presente nas micronarrativas; e a analise de assunto.Palavras-chave: Campanhas Online; Twitter; Conversação Mediada por Computador; Teoria Ator-Rede; Análise de Redes Sociais.ABSTRACT This article discusses online campaigns and presents a theoretical-methodological approach to studies on the subject focusing on Computer Mediated Conversation (CMC), the Actor Network Theory (ANT) and Social Network Analysis approaches (SNA) on Twitter. The proposal contributes to network and conversation mapping that is built around civic engagement in electoral periods and favors the breakup of centralization, with a distributed view of the dialogical use of the microblog. It shows that political actors still face the challenge of interactivity and conversation, and reinforces that analyses targeted to the content of the shared messages must observe: a) the limits and constraints of the microblog; b) aspects of this discourse in micronarratives; and c) an analysis of the subject.Keywords: Online Campaigns; Twitter; Computer-Mediated Conversation; Actor-Network Theory; Social Network Analysis.

From the Sacred to the Sacred Object

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edwin Sayes ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Network Theory ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Social Thought ◽  
Bruno Latour ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
Rene Girard ◽  
Michel Serres ◽  
Sacred Object ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

The philosophy of Bruno Latour has given us one of the most important statements on the part played by technology in the ordering of the human collective. Typically presented as a radical departure from mainstream social thought, Latour is not without his intellectual creditors: Michel Serres and, through him, René Girard. By tracing this development, we are led to understand better the relationship of Latour’s work, and Actor-Network Theory more generally, to traditional sociological concerns. By doing so we can also hope to understand better the role that objects play in structuring society.

scholarly journals Latour and Literary Studies

PMLA ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 130 (3) ◽  
pp. 737-742 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rita Felski
Keyword(s):  
Network Theory ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Literary Studies ◽  
Bruno Latour ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
Style Of Thought

I am interested in questions of reading and interpretation. I am also drawn to actor-network theory and the work of Bruno Latour. Can these attractions be brought into alignment? To what extent can a style of thought that describes itself as empiricist and rejects critique speak to the dominant concerns of literary studies? Can actor-network theory help us think more adequately about interpretation? Might it inspire us to become more generous readers? How do literary studies and Latourian thought engage, enlist, seduce, or speak past each other? What duels, rivalries, intrigues, appropriations, or love affairs will ensue?

scholarly journals Using actor-network theory to reveal strategy processes in design firms

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison RIEPLE ◽  
Antonius VAN DEN BROEK
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Digital Design ◽  
Strategy Development ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Actor Networks ◽  
Design Firms

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.

Reassembling the Problem of the Under-Representation of Girls in IT Courses

2011 ◽  
pp. 208-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonie Rowan ◽  
Chris Bigum
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Research Council ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
Australian Research Council ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Key Questions

The percentages of girls in developing countries undertaking information technology subjects in the post-compulsory years of education has remained persistently low: often under 25%. This is despite the fact that this particular phenomenon has been the subject of sustained international enquiry for at least three decades. This article investigates data collected during an Australian Research Council Linkage Grant project (2005-2007) that aimed to identify some of the contemporary reasons for this under-representation in Australian schools. The original phases of data collection proceeded from the belief that there was a clear and agreed understanding that the low numbers of girls was a problem worthy of analysis. As the project evolved, however, significant differences between the researchers’ perception of the underrepresentation and the participants’ views about the same issue. In this paper we make use of actor-network theory to ask key questions about the extent to which the enrolment of girls in IT is indeed ‘a problem’.

The Subject of Media Studies

2017 ◽  
pp. 51-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joost van Loon
Keyword(s):  
Media Studies ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Human Subject ◽  
Transcendental Phenomenology ◽  
Free Association ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Critical Discussion ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
Generalized Symmetry ◽  
The Subject

On the basis of the banal example of the rise of “the selfie”, this chapter critically considers the issue of the Subjects of (and in) Media Studies and argues that the reason why Actor-Network Theory (ANT) has thus far not been widely accepted within this field has been its adherence to the Principles of Generalized Symmetry and Free Association. That is to say: ANT categorically refuses subsuming properties of entities to abstractions such as nature, society or technology. On the contrary, Media Studies have doggedly adhered to privileging “the Human” as its subject of analysis. On the basis of a critique of transcendental phenomenology, which has been specified by a critical discussion of McLuhan's famous edict “media are extensions of man”, the chapter exposes the empirical fallacy of granting the human subject a status of exception and instead proposes an empirical metaphysics based on ‘prehension' as an alternative. This, it is argued, will enable forms of media analyses that can be both radically empirical and politically engaged.

The actor-network theory as a method in the analysis of Samarco disaster in Brazil

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 176-191
Author(s):  
Camilla Zanon Bussular ◽  
Cecília Gerhardt Burtet ◽  
Cláudia Simone Antonello
Keyword(s):  
Network Theory ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Social World ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Fields ◽  
The Social ◽  
Methodological Aspects ◽  
Empirical Demonstration

Purpose The actor-network theory (ANT) has been understood as a method, as a way of engaging in the social world and also transform it. The purpose of this paper is to show the ANT methodological aspects, provide an empirical demonstration of this approach as a method, and promote a debate about the implications and importance of understanding it as a method and not just as a theory. Design/methodology/approach By analyzing the criticisms of ANT seminal concepts and its repercussions, the authors have offered an understanding of its methodological aspects and its implications for the practice of research. An empirical study conducted in Brazil is presented to exemplify the use of ANT as a method. Findings The methodological reflection of this approach starts from the recognition that the methods are part of the social world that they research; they are totally imbued with theoretical representations of this world; they are social because they also help to constitute this social world. As a method, ANT seeks to understand the process of stabilizing practices, negotiations and controversies that are established when such practices are in the process of being. In that sense, following the relational disputes that build a practice before their stabilization is the task to be accomplished for the researcher in the field. Research limitations/implications The paper offers relevant contributions to the understanding of ANT as a method. The authors encourage other researchers to venture into the development of this approach in future studies that further explore its methodological character. Originality/value There are not many studies on ANT as a method. If ANT is also a method, can we apply it to any research? The authors hope to bring this matter to discussion, understanding and questioning the use of this theoretical-methodological approach in the research fields.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document