Abstract
ABSTRACT Purpose: This article aims to understand the controversies present from the insertion of a disruptive technology in a new business model, Uber, in the urban mobility market of Belo Horizonte-MG. Originality/value: The actor-network theory allows us to describe innovation as technical and social, as well as to identify the sociomaterialities that enact and multiple realities from controversies in dispute. The proposal is original in investigating how a disruptive innovation is built as a “fact”, accompanying its stabilization processes. Design/methodology/approach: The research was operationalized from the actor-network theory itself, using cartography to follow the actors in their controversies. The data came mainly from newspapers, postings on social networks and legal materials accessed through the internet (from December 2014 to July 2017). For the presentation of the results, the mandala of actors who dispute positions in controversies and the hierarchical tree of the controversies were used. Findings: The arrangement was marked by several controversies that deal with the legitimacy of the application, the labor relations established by the innovation and the quality of the services provided, each supported by different actors, positions and arguments. Four types of technology identified in this arrangement were identified: 1. user technology; 2. service provision; 3. economic issues; and 4. Uber driver. It is understood, therefore, that the technology has multiple dimensions and is enacted of different forms, and that this arrangement has not yet stabilized.
Highlights
In the processes of disruptive innovations, the understanding of sociomateriality plays a central role, given that, according to Mol (2002), it enacts reality
The research was operationalized from the actor-network theory itself, using cartography to follow the actors in their controversies
The description of disruptive innovations from the perspective of the actor-network theory (ANT) poses a challenge that goes beyond the traditional proposals of study in this field, considering explicitly that the “design of a technology is an endless process” (Callon, 2004, p. 3)
Summary
In the processes of disruptive innovations, the understanding of sociomateriality plays a central role, given that, according to Mol (2002), it enacts reality. Belo Horizonte already had (before the application insertion) stabilization in the urban mobility market, being the taxi and public transportation the central actors of the established order This is what makes this study more relevant, given that the Uber application (app) has sparked controversies that have not yet stabilized; that is, the construction of a black box (stabilization) that purifies the process of the multiplicity of divergent interests has not yet occurred. While this is not happening, we realize in this research that the insertion of Uber into the market was marked by uncertainties and controversies (Latour, 2012) and destabilization (Medeiros et al, 2014) of the urban mobility market To reveal these processes, one of the ways is the study of controversies that allows a description of the involvement of different actors and the heterogeneity of the sociotechnical networks, as well as the various debates and confrontations (Venturini, 2010; Latour, 2012) involved in the case of Uber. Regarding the choice of object, we justify it in the words of Venturini (2010, p. 13), “one should look for controversies where everyone is shouting and fighting; where conflicts grow most severely.” In this sense, Belo Horizonte was one of the places where Uber had the most controversy surrounding its existence
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