scholarly journals The Guelph Water connection: The contribution of Actor-Network Theory (ANT) to the study of water management in Guelph, Ontario

2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (174) ◽  
pp. 489-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathalie GRAVEL ◽  
Adama KONÉ
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Water Resource ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Water Network ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
Informal Network

The application of Actor-Network Theory (ANT) to the case of water management in the municipality of Guelph, Ontario, located at the periphery of Toronto, highlights the interactions between the multiple water actors in Canada who, while organised as an informal network, build knowledge together on “blue” and resilient cities. It provides a cross-cutting look at water resource co-management and the process of multiscalar public policy development by considering exchanges and negotiations between administrative bodies, the pan-Canadian water network and the organized local civil society. The water soft path approach has federated the actors of the network who share/build ideas together about sustainable municipal water management. The study of the water nexus in Guelph, of its territoriality and its history, allows for a better understanding of how and why a conservationist culture embracing the principles of “green living” has developed in Guelph and why it has become a centre for water innovation in Canada.

Bringing green food to the Chinese table: How civil society actors are changing consumer culture in China

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Leggett
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Food Consumption ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Consumer Culture ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Culture Theory ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
Green Food ◽  
Consumer Culture Theory

Environmental and health effects of China’s rapid economic growth since the 1980s have been especially tangible in the food sector, with ‘green’ products emerging as alternatives for consumption networks wishing to avoid ‘conventional’ foods produced using chemicals. Despite state support for increased sustainability in large-scale farming over the past decade, formal institutional voids remain, with regard to consumer trust and small-scale farmers. Green food consumption is increasing in China, as civil society actors work to fill voids and promote green purchasing behaviour. In this article, I investigate how civil society organisations are changing Chinese consumer culture around green food through two stages of empirical research. Qualitative content analysis of microblogs of four Chinese environmental non-governmental organisations was conducted in 2013, and insights were further explored through fieldwork interviews and participant observation in Beijing during 2016. Responding to previous consumer behaviour studies which over-emphasise individual rationality, marginalising contextual and collective aspects, this analysis adopts Bajde’s enrichment of Consumer Culture Theory with Actor Network Theory to explore microelements and macroelements, their interrelations and processes of change. Based on co-production of subject and object within Consumer Culture Theory with Actor Network Theory, this study analyses engagement with and re/creation of materials, discourse and social meanings by green food consumption networks, including non-governmental organisations, farmers, retailers and consumers. Although findings reflect particularities of the Beijing cultural context, themes parallel wider phenomena at the national and international levels.

scholarly journals Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Pine Beetles And Humans: The Ecologically Mediated Development Of British Columbia’s Carbon Tax

2015 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 309-330
Author(s):  
Stephanie Sodero
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Carbon Tax ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Policy Outcome ◽  
Human Environment ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
Pine Beetles

In 2008, the province of British Columbia was an early mover in North America introducing a broad-based and escalating carbon tax. This article explores the interface between the human and non-human environment that resulted in this policy outcome. I use Actor-Network Theory, with its emphasis on the co-construction of human and non-humans, to describe, inform, and problematize the way humans relate to the non-human environment. Drawing on a post-humanist Latourian perspective, I examine the interlocking relationship between “chemical reactions and political reactions.” I explore five examples of human and non-human mediation in the development of British Columbia’s carbon tax: environmental pricing, the beetle epidemic, political economy, emissions accounting, and emotion. Applying Actor-Network Theory to the case of British Columbia’s carbon tax disrupts traditional anthropocentric approaches to policy development, highlighting the role of the non-human environment in shaping, rather than simply being shaped by, policy.

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.

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