Why do blockchains split? An actor-network perspective on Bitcoin splits

An actor-network perspective on business models: How ‘Being Responsible’ led to incremental but pervasive change

This article presents a study describing the agency of non-human entities within a mathematics education practice involving a teacher and seven high school students from a Brazilian public school. Data collected through observations were analyzed using Actor-Network Theory, mainly drawing on Bruno Latour's sociological insights. The analysis suggested that viewing mathematics education as a complex network of interconnected human and non-human actors allows us to understand how non-human agents contribute to performing a mathematics task. This study provided valuable insights into the role of these agents, revealing whether they act. Elements such as computers, calculators, the task itself, and the computer lab did not operate as mere tools but as active agents that influenced decisions, generated conflicts, and redirected the learning process in mathematics. The analysis also suggests that these non-human and human actors take on different roles, sometimes as intermediaries when their influence goes unnoticed, and sometimes as mediators when they actively intervene and alter the course of action. Furthermore, the study highlights the instability of hybrid association networks, showing how students’ leadership and strategies are constantly reshaped through interactions with various material objects.

Recent literature shows that adopting an accounting information system (AIS) can lead to better decision-making, planning, efficiency and on-time management control, and organisational functionality. However, the impact of AIS implementation on role creation in the organisation is unclear. With the digital transformation of AIS and daily advances in machine learning and other innovative technologies, it is also unclear how these changes interact with human roles in organisations and which AIS components are considered essential. This paper addresses the above issues by applying the actor-network theory to examine the impact of deep machine learning modules in predicting the human actor roles in accounting information systems in organisations. We targeted 120 human actors and examined the influence of deep machine learning modules in predicting 11 personnel and professional features of human actors, based on multivariate statistical analysis. Our findings show that two human factors (familiarity with accounting information and time spent on becoming familiar with it) are the most influential elements that can predict the human actor roles in accounting information systems in organisations. So, human and non-human actors are both essential parts of an integrated AIS that must be considered. The current literature has focused on the AIS structure with less on the interaction between human and non-human actors. One of the main contributions of this study is providing evidence that AIS heavily relies on its human and non-human actors to form a coherent and united AIS network to promote AIS management strategies. The practical implication of the results is that investing in either technology or human resources alone is not enough to achieve the best productivity and performance in organisations. Instead, there must be a balance between human and non-human actors.

A variety of healthcare robots for elderly care have been developed. However, as the elderly and caregivers experience psychological resistance towards not only new technologies but specifically to robots, the adoption of healthcare robots has scarcely progressed. This article aims to develop a service design method, which consists of a design process including design tools to identify jobs in an elderly care facility and to reveal what kinds of jobs to assign to service robots and to caregivers. This article develops a design method which is composed of six steps and adopts original design tools to identify jobs needed in elderly care facilities and assign them to human and non-human actors, including service robots. The tools include an actor map to visualize the Actor to Actor (A2A) network, a current jobs to be done (JTBD) worksheet to visualize existing jobs, a new JTBD worksheet to visualize new jobs, and an actor worksheet to summarize information about each actor including their philosophy. With this design method, we conducted a series of workshops with the aim to develop a service fulfilled by humans and non-humans at an elderly care facility in Shizuoka prefecture in Japan. The results of questionnaires administered to the workshop participants demonstrated the effectiveness of all the tools except the new JTBD worksheet. Also, the results of interviews with employees in the elderly care facility indicated the effectiveness of the approach, which reveals visible and invisible regulative, normative and cultural-cognitive elements through interviews with human actors, and embeds them in the service design process. The design method including the original design tools proposed in this article contribute to a service design method for the use of robots in elderly care facilities by allocating jobs to human actors and non-human actors appropriately, and it also contributes to the issue of psychological resistance to the adoption of service robots in these facilities, which brings efficiencies to society. The contribution of this article is to reframe the issue of resistance to the adoption of service robots in elderly care facilities to the issue of what kinds of jobs in an elderly care facility should be assigned to service robots or caregivers, and the development of a service design process including original design tools.

Competence to enact responsible practices, such as recycling waste or boycotting irresponsible companies, is core to learning for responsibility. We explore the role of apps in learning such responsible practices ‘in the wild,’ outside formal educational environments over a 3-week period. Learners maintained a daily diary in which they reflected on their learning of responsible practices with apps. Through a thematic analysis of 557 app mentions in the diaries, we identified five types of app-agency: cognitive, action, interpersonal, personal development, and material. Findings were interpreted from an actor-network perspective using the lens of ‘translation.’ To understand how apps enabled the learning of responsible practices, we analyzed app agency throughout four moments of translation: problematization, interessement, enrolment, and mobilization. Based on our analysis of how students’ app mentions changed over time, we further theorize learning as a sequence of subtranslations that form the larger translation process: learning as translation(s). Each subtranslation cycle is centered on enrolling a different set of human and nonhuman actors, with their competence, into the network. We contribute to the learning for responsibility field by showcasing how app-enabled learning may create real-life actor networks enacting responsibility, and by priming an actor-network pedagogy for ‘learning in the wild.’ We also contribute to the actor-network learning discussion by conceptualizing heterogeneous human–nonhuman competence and the first processual model of learning as translation(s).

The design of inclusive public transport services is crucial for the development of modern, barrier-free smart city infrastructures. This study investigates the socio-technical networks that shape the accessibility experiences of visually-impaired passengers using the tram system in Linz, Austria. Using Actor-Network Theory (ANT) as a theoretical framework, we investigate how agency is distributed between human and non-human actors in complex socio-technical networks, re-conceptualising accessibility as an emergent network property rather than a fixed infrastructure characteristic.Our mixed-methods approach combines shadowing observations with focus group discussions. The shadowing protocol documented visually impaired participants navigating the tram system, capturing their spatial navigation techniques, interactions with the physical infrastructure, use of technological aids, communication strategies, and responses to unexpected situations. The focus group, comprising seven visually-impaired persons with varying degrees of impairment and transport experience, provided complementary insights into user experiences, challenges, and adaptation strategies.The analysis revealed four predominant dimensions influencing accessibility outcomes: (1) Network Configuration—interactions between human actors (passengers, staff) and non-human actors (assistive devices, infrastructure) collectively determined accessibility success, with translation processes mediating between different network elements; (2) Mobility Patterns—regular users demonstrated sophisticated system knowledge, with some deliberately using public transport to develop navigational skills, highlighting the importance of mental models in system navigation; (3) Technology Integration—digital tools, such as mobility phone applications enabled independence while revealing varying levels of technological comfort; and (4) Warning Systems—participants emphasized the importance of the 'two-sense principle' for warnings, with directional audio and tactile feedback being particularly valuable.In addition, we revealed multiple additional dimensions relevant in this context. These include: accessibility barriers (physical, social, technical), sophisticated user adaptation strategies, significant infrastructure design implications, organisational policy implications, complex risk management approaches, and specialized spatial navigation techniques. These findings demonstrate that accessibility challenges arise from misalignments in socio-technical networks rather than from individual limitations.Our research has significant implications for public transport design: (1) technological innovations must take into account diverse user needs and existing adaptation strategies; (2) critical "obligatory passage points" such as platform-vehicle transitions represent systemic vulnerabilities that require focused attention; (3) varying levels of technological proficiency require flexible, adaptable interface designs; (4) directional warning signals significantly improve safety by facilitating spatial orientation; and (5) human assistance remains essential alongside technological improvements, with social interactions continuing to play a critical role in accessibility outcomes.This research contributes to the broader discourse on inclusive transport systems by highlighting accessibility as an emergent property of socio-technical networks, requiring integrated approaches combining technological and social solutions. Future research will explore how emerging technologies could further improve accessibility, taking into account potential risks of exclusion, and longitudinally examine how users' navigation strategies evolve over time.

Objective: This study examines the efficacy of enculturation of academic integrity, in the context of an automated student plagiarism management system (ASPMS) at a private higher education institution (PHEI) to provide heuristics for related endeavours. Theoretical Framework: In this topic, the main theory underpinning the research is the Actor-Network Theory (ANT). Method: The methodology adopted for this research comprises a mixed approach, incorporating both qualitative thematic analysis of transcripts of interviews with human actors and quantitative analyses of data gathered from the ASPMS. Results and Discussion: A nuanced, gestalt-like composition of ANT relationships emerged, from which many meaningful heuristics could be derived for both enhancing, and avoiding pitfalls in, enculturation of academic integrity. The ANT perspective allows for the essential roles of human and non-human actors in the network to be assessed for efficacy in achieving the objectives of the network. Overarching heuristics include ongoing cyclic-iterative refinement of the automated system; the underpinning regulatory framework and related organisational structures; and the education/training of human actors. Research Implications: Incorporating automation in academic integrity measures, allows for the delegation of onerous tasks to non-human actors in the system. Notwithstanding, acknowledged disruptors in this evolving context, such as the advent of Large-Language Model Artificial Intelligence (LLM-AI) tools (notably, Chat-GPT), increasingly confound the detection and assessment of plagiarism. Advancing heuristics towards designing systems for enculturating academic integrity– and for concomitant evaluation of the efficacy of such actor networks (as per ANT) – comprises the major implications of this study. Originality/Value: While this study involves a relatively esoteric context – a case study involving a bespoke ASPMS at a single PHEI campus in South Africa – the heuristics have application in many systems (actor networks), with or without automation, in which academic integrity is fostered.

Rural community development in China has made progress under the rapid implementation of the rural revitalization strategy; however, it has also revealed challenges such as an overemphasis on spatial construction, severe homogenization, and low sustainability. Existing research on rural community development lacks sufficient localized experience, and there is a limited understanding of how the development process is generated, maintained, and evolved. This study examines Xiongfan Village in Dawu County, Hubei Province, using an innovative methodological integration of Actor-Network Theory (ANT) and Social Network Analysis (SNA). This mixed-methods approach qualitatively traces the formation of networks involving both human and non-human actors, while quantitatively mapping the collaborative structure among human actors. Qualitative analysis of actor networks identifies both human actors (such as government departments, enterprises, social organizations, and villagers) and non-human actors (such as natural and cultural landscapes) as key participants. Through processes like recruitment, mobilization, and dispute resolution, various actors have formed interest alliances centered around the core issue of “revitalizing and sustainably developing rural community resources.” Quantitative social network analysis reveals a “core-periphery” structure, with government departments and social organizations occupying central roles, while business institutions and community villagers are positioned at the periphery. This distribution contrasts with the overarching goal of community development, which seeks to enhance villagers′ intrinsic motivation. The study suggests that rural community development in this area can be improved by diversifying co-construction forms, restructuring core groups, and empowering peripheral actors. These measures will facilitate a shift from single-space development to enhanced community capacity-building, ultimately promoting sustainable rural development.

Objectives: Research aimed to recognize the model contestation between human and non-human actors at the arena of cycling tour in the eastern part of Indonesia in Flores Island. Methods: The research was socio-technical paper, qualitative descriptive method was used to follow the contestation value between cycling tourist and its technical actors during the journey. researchers observed and participated on cycling touring at Flores Island. All participants were Jakarta residents that had different variety of age, gender, occupation and living arrangements. variety of participants ranged in age from 44 to52 years old. total of 1 woman and 4 men were interviewed. Results: findings indicated three stages [Pre-departure cycling tour, En route cycling, and Post-cycling tour] that constructed the field of Actor-Network Theory [ANT], contested human and non-human actors, assemblage of the actors and semiotics were performed in this finding. The use of bicycle as main non-human actors to follow by cycling tourist creating the dynamic and interaction between human actors during cycling. Conclusions: research identifies human and non-human relations within cycling tour, then how the process of relation between actors construct tourism product such as cycling tours. The phrases of human and non-human agents, and sociotechnical were employed to investigate semiotics in their relationship. Values of their experiences and their style in cycling related to motives and type of bicycle. ANT approach described cycling in Flores Island, from departure– to destination or during enroute cycling till finish line, and flying back to their home country.

The purpose of this paper is to clarify how nonhuman actors contribute to solidarity in independent new film production. Specifically, it examines independent new film productions from a relationalist perspective, using actor-network-theory (ANT), which considers humans and nonhumans as equivalent actors and analyzes phenomena based on their interactions with each other. The research method used was ethnography with a focus on participant observation. One of the authors, a filmmaker and researcher, observed the inner workings of the filmmaking activity, while the other author observed the observer from an anthropologist’s perspective. In a previous paper, we found from the process of translation that the two nonhuman actors of the film’s original story and funding are inextricably linked, and the agency of the human actors surrounding them interacts with and transforms the nonhuman actors (Coney and Ito, 2021). In the present study, we analyzed the interaction with the solidarity among human actors in the process of film production by closely following the linkage of nonhuman actors such as provisional publicity materials, in addition to funds and scripts. In the process of filmmaking, the nonhuman actors often encounter unforeseen circumstances such as budget adjustments and filming postponement, but despite the setbacks, the nonhuman actors form a network in which they accept each other’s roles, and filmmaking is promoted by solidarity as human actors of the film become more interdependent through the agency working as an inclusive collective. The results of the study revealed that the human actors in film are interdependent and that their solidarity promotes filmmaking.

본 연구는 기존의 표준관련 연구가 실제로 표준이 만들어지고 보급되는 제반 사회적 환경과 다중 이해관계자가 존재하는 복합적인 사회시스템에서의 행위자 역할 및 변화과정을 조망하는 작업이 충분히 이루어지지 못했다는 데에서 문제의식을 갖고 출발한다. 이를 배경으로 본 연구는 사회-기술적 제도 환경의 맥락에서 각기 다른 이해관계를 가진 참여자들이 혁신적인 기술을 개발해 표준화해가는 동태적 과정을 사회-기술적 접근으로 재구성하는 것을 목적으로 수행되었다. 이를 위한 세부 목표는 첫째, 표준화 과정을 둘러싼 사회-기술적 네트워크에서 인간 행위자 간, 인간과 비인간 행위자와의 상호작용 관계의 특징을 살펴보는 것이다. 둘째로는 표준화 과정을 선도한 핵심 행위자의 활동과 역할의 변화를 관찰하고자 하였다. 이를 위하여, 행위자-네트워크 이론(Actor Network Theory)에 기초하여 한국에서 진행된 고화질 3DTV방송기술의 표준화 과정의 동태적 속성을 분석하였다. 분석방법은 연구자가 행위자-네트워크에 직접 참여하여 동태적 특성을 분석하고, 설문 인터뷰와 심층 인터뷰를 통한 질적 연구의 방법을 적용, 표준 형성과정에 나타난 제반 환경-행위-기술 동학을 고찰하였다. This study is devised out of the recognition that the existing standardization-related research has not sufficiently examined the overall social environment where a standard is actually made and diffused and the roles of the actors and the changes in them in the complex social system where multiple stakeholders exist. Against this backdrop, this study purports to reconstruct the dynamic process of developing and standardizing an innovative technology through a socio-technical approach involved by multiple stakeholders with different interests in the context of a socio-technical institutional environment. The specific goals to achieve the purpose include first, inspecting the characteristics of the interactions between the human actors and between the human and non-human actors in the socio-technical network surrounding a standardization process. Second, the study aimed to observe the activities of the focal actor who led the standardization process and its changing role. To that end, it analyzed the dynamic features of the process of standardizing a HD 3DTV broadcasting technology that took place in South Korea based on the actor network theory. As for the analysis method, the researchers personally took part in the actor network involving the new technology to analyze the dynamic characteristics of the network, applying the qualitative research method of survey and in-depth interviews and exploring the overall dynamics of environment, behavior and technology observed over the course of the entire standardization process.

Knowledge Translation is a core research topic in the field of knowledge sciences. To date, traditional research on knowledge translation has come from medical and health sciences. This is not surprising because in health sciences and medicine, there is a long tradition of review of evidence-based research, information dissemination and translating theory to application. While providing a strong foundation for understanding knowledge translation, research focused on the healthcare domain overlooks the scope or the scale of knowledge translation we all encounter every day in the course of living in the 21st century. In the knowledge economy, knowledge exchange and simple sharing represent an economic transaction. Wherever and whenever knowledge is exchanged, knowledge transactions should be as effective and efficient as possible to ensure the flow of knowledge is maximised. Knowledge exchange frequently occurs between human and non-human actors. In contrast, the traditional knowledge translation literature focuses on human-to-human knowledge translation. This paper looks at knowledge exchanges between human actors and non-human actors in two specific environments. The first is human-to-machine knowledge translation in service call centres. The second environment focuses on doctor-patient conversations during patient visits, with the participation of third-party non-human actors, e.g. machine transcription applications. These non-human actors create persistent records of exchanges between doctors and patients. They also have been found to generate high rates of errors in knowledge translation. The problems, challenges and opportunities involved in each of these fields are the focus of this paper. The authors identify factors that contribute to knowledge translation failures.

In times when machine learning (ML) and other artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are expanding the role and definition of network learning in schools, this short paper reports from a practice-centred research project that explores how K-12 teachers affect and are affected by educational technologies with AI. Accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, data-driven and decision-making systems with ML are already entering various educational policy and practice realms, often underpinned by promises of automation and personalization. A growing number of research, drawing from the theoretical orientations and empirical approaches from Science & Technology Studies is increasingly unpacking such promises as well as addressing controversies directly related to the constitutions of ML AI in education. Still, little research explores the adoption of data-driven AI technologies in classrooms from a socio-material, networked learning stance. This short paper introduces such work (in progress) drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Sweden. Guided by the ontological and methodological approaches of Actor-Network-Theory (ANT), the study focuses on the interactions in K-12 classrooms between commercial ML technologies and teachers. Methodologically this means engaging with both human and non-human actors through ethnographic approaches striving for very specific descriptions of interactions within the actor-network and its enacted realities. Preliminary findings from the first of two envisaged case studies in which a ML-based teaching aid in mathematics was tried out in 22 classrooms indicate how compensatory and contradictory actions and accounts emerge within the network of heterogeneous actors. Human actors seem to compensate for the algorithmic actions of the specific educational technology with ML. This is however not a fait accompli but a continuous and unsettled process in the making between humans and the (non-human) technology. Preliminary results also suggest how controversies of ML algorithms in teaching aids, such as their lack of transparency and algorithmic “governance” play out in authentic learning contexts. In conclusion, the paper argues that theoretical and methodological principles of ANT grant for non-deterministic narrative of the heterogeneous nature of educational practice and have the potential to open the black-box of machine learning in the emerging networked learning settings of K-12 classrooms.

Playing Conspiracy

Provision of mobile banking services from an actor–network perspective: Implications for convergence and standardization