Actor-network Theory Approach Research Articles

Assessing resilience to systemic risks across interbank credit networks using linkage-leverage analysis: Evidence from Japan

The banking crisis started in March 2023 was triggered by disproportion of deposit liability and assets. Applying balance sheets from 1999 to 2022, from the Japanese Bank Association, this study scrutinizes the durability of high-priority banking systems against damaging events in that industry. Eyeing the unique high-level savings in Japanese banking, this study investigates the impact of disproportion of deposit liability and assets on the financial stability of interbank credit networks through a linkage-leverage analysis. This study presents a novel framework that combines actor-network theory, network optimization, and bilateral risk exposure approaches into linkage-leverage analysis. The results in this study show that the bilateral risk exposure during a subset of years is smaller than other years, which indicates that Japanese banks minimize the risk exposure by shifting the network relationship. Finally, this study provides supporting evidence to the new paradigms on developing more stable financial systems.

Understanding digital consumer culture in Indonesia: a case study on youth community in Jakarta using an actor-network theory approach

Purpose This study aims to examine digital consumer culture and behavior in the community, namely, 180° Movement Digital Training Center (DTC), in Jakarta, Indonesia. It aims to describe the dynamics of digital consumer culture in contemporary society, particularly as experienced by the youth community in Jakarta in the context of socio-technology relations and incorporates it into the diagram of digital consumer culture network. Design/methodology/approach This research uses a constructivist qualitative approach and socio-technical relation analysis through actor-network theory and digital consumer culture. Findings The study finds that the individual model of digital consumption is constructed through the process of problematization, interessement, enrollment and mobilization of individuals. It generates a culture in which consumers are constantly up to date with high-intensity information, but within increasingly shorter timeframes, while also considering principles of affordability, needs, desires and satisfaction. The network of digital consumer culture construction among informants is peculiar and unstable. Research limitations/implications The study of digital consumer culture within the 180° Movement DTC community highlights how consumer behaviors of its members are facilitated and interconnected within a digital cultural network. However, this research is constrained by the dialectical interplay between Christian principles and the emerging values of consumer culture, a result of the scarcity of theoretical resources and information. This study also provides a specific contribution as a foundation for mapping the volatile digital consumer culture for researchers. Practical implications Understanding the socio-technological relationships and consumption behavior of the youth community could help digital platforms tailor their services more effectively. It could also guide the 180° Movement DTC in developing programs that resonate with the youth, bridging the gap between the physical and virtual realms. Ultimately, this could lead to a more engaged and digitally literate society. Social implications This study contributes to a broader societal understanding of how digital technology is shaping consumer behavior and identity within youth communities, which can influence social dynamics and interactions. It provides insights into the potential social impacts of digital technology, such as changes in relationships, communication patterns and self-perception, informing societal discourse on digital culture. Originality/value In addition to presenting socio-technological analysis on Indonesian consumer culture using actor-network theory, some also show that studies on digital connectivity ambivalence that concern the relationship between humans as actors and non-humans as actors have become one of the popular sociology studies at present.

Spacing: Following negotiations in the process of exhibition dismantling

This paper is concerned with an Actor-Network Theory approach to museum space. It builds upon qualitative research at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, a museum and educational building in Norwich, England. Following the people who work with the building in the process of dismantling an exhibition, I examine the negotiations that emerge when a problem occurs with the handling of a specific artwork. Drawing on the concept of spacing by Bruno Latour, this paper highlights the multiplicity and complexity inherent in museum practices. I argue that space is not contained inside the building but is done with the building, exhibition objects, handling instructions, surfaces, and people. Analyzing this process of spacing, then, the work towardsand negotiation of stability and flux, of homogeneity and heterogeneity inherent to museum spaces become visible which allows for a rich and nuanced understanding of the relationship between people and physical stuff.

JEJARING PENDIDIKAN ISLAM; PROSES PEMBENTUKAN RELASI GURU DAN MURID PESANTREN DI KABUPATEN ACEH SINGKIL

The role of the three Syekh Muda Waly students at the Darussalam Islamic Boarding School is crucial in the social and religious life of the community in Aceh Singkil Regency. They are Abu Bahauddin Tawar (1927-2008), Abu Zamzami Syam (1923-2013) and Abu Baihaqi (1931-2015). Interestingly, although the three have different educational characters, they studied at the Darussalam Islamic Boarding School led by Abu Syekh Muda Waly Al Khalidi (1961). Abu Sheikh Muda Al-Khalidi inherited religious knowledge such as fiqh monotheism of Sufism and the sanad of the Naqsabandiyah Khalidiah order. Through an actor-network theory (ANT) approach, this research attempts to map the process of forming student and teacher relationships between the three ulama and Syekh Muda Waly. The results of this research show. (1) The relationship between teacher and student is formed through scientific networks and tarekat sanad. (2) This relationship also impacts learning in the three Islamic boarding schools, which have the same curriculum structure and emphasize understanding fiqh, monotheism, Sufism, da'wah science, and tool science. (3) Such relations also make Darussalam the axis for scientific institutions in the three Islamic boarding schools. It is common for several students who have completed tsanawiyah or Aliyah education at the three Islamic boarding schools to continue to deepen their knowledge at the Darussalam Islamic Boarding School. This relationship shows the role of Abu Syekh Muda Waly Al-Khalidi and Islamic Boarding School Darussalam in building a scientific network within the social context of the Aceh Singkil community

Following the changes in young people’s drinking practices before and during the pandemic with a qualitative longitudinal interview material

ABSTRACT The paper analyses how the Covid-19 pandemic affected young people’s alcohol-related assemblages, trajectories of becoming and identity claims in Sweden. The data is based on longitudinal qualitative interviews among heavy and moderate drinking young people (n = 23; age range 15–24 years). The participants were interviewed two to three times before the Covid-19 pandemic and once at the end of it, between 2017 and 2021. The analysis draws on actor-network theory and narrative positioning approach. The analysis demonstrates how the lockdown produced trajectories of becoming boring, normal, stress-free, self-caring, self-confident and shielded. In these trajectories, drinking was positioned into relations that either increased young people’s capacities for well-being or decreased them. Due to the lockdown, some participants learnt to be moved by relations that contributed to replace drinking with competing activities, while others experienced that the lockdown made drinking a more attractive activity, turning it into a collective force that helped them to overcome isolation. The results show how drinking is a heterogeneous activity which may increase or decrease young people’s capacities for well-being, depending on what kinds of assemblages and trajectories of becoming it is embedded in.

A new mode of control: an actor–network theory account of effects of power and agency in establishing education policy

ABSTRACT In this paper, I argue that power promised to England’s teachers by the 2010 ‘Importance of Teaching’ white paper has rather played out as a reformulation of methods of policymaking to more indirect modes of government control. I trace the growth of government control in English schools, promised front-line power in 2010 and a rise in non-statutory guidance after this point. Taking an actor–network theory approach to ethnographic data I then describe how a school takes up one such non-statutory educational initiative – ‘Maths Mastery’. Focusing on early stages of the school’s adoption of the initiative, I trace associations of actors which problematize existing practices for the teaching of maths and how the initiative is imbued with authority in relation to these. I argue that the ways in which certain actors – statutory education policy and government funding – associate with the ‘optional’ initiative reveals a ‘back door’ control of teacher agency.

Re-conceptualizing the ideal homes in rural China: an actor-network theory approach

With the shift in relational ontology, the concept of home is interpreted as a dynamic and relational process, in which both human and non-human elements need to be valued. Adopting ANT (actor-network theory) as an approach, this article reveals the interactive relationship and translation process between urban-rural migrants and rural heterogeneous actors (including farmland, landscapes, local people, means of subsistence, and technological facilities) in the connection of ideal home networks. It involves three steps of translation between actors, namely problem presentation of key actors, enrollment and benefit granting by key actors, and negotiation of “obligatory passage points” (OPP) based on actors’ common goals. Based on a two-year qualitative research of 18 interviewees, this article demonstrates how migrants adapt to the countryside through enrollment and benefit granting, and how sustainability and recyclability become common interests and OPP for actors in homemaking. The article argues that ANT provides a descriptive focus on how rural life has transformed from a backward neighborhood or abstract nostalgia to a harmonious new home that blends traditional culture, ecological ideas, and modern technology in the context of China. The study also points out that in the process of translating interests between actors, the human-land relationship still shows complexity and instability. Future research needs to pay more attention to the role of government officials and governance policies in the building of home networks.

Evaluating the Relevance of Actor-Network Theory in Understanding Floating Markets of Thailand: A Critical Review

This comprehensive review provides an analytical and critical examination of the journal article 'Floating markets in Thailand: same, same, but different' by Chalermpet Pangajarn, René van der Duim, and Karin Peters, published in the Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change in 2018. The focus of the journal article, and consequently, this review, is on the unique tourism development of five distinct floating markets in Bangkok and Pattaya, Thailand, which have come to symbolize Thai culture. This review employs the Actor-Network Theory (ANT) as a lens to unravel the complex and fluid dynamics of these markets, exploring how they have adapted and transformed over time to meet the demands of international tourism. Additionally, it highlights potential biases, power dynamics, and the significance of spatial and temporal considerations in the application of ANT to cultural and geographical studies. The review concludes with a discussion on challenges and opportunities in applying ANT to tourism studies and provides a potential alternative view emphasizing the need for relational analysis in understanding the diverse and dynamic nature of these markets. Overall, the review aims to contribute to the academic discourse on tourism development by providing a deeper understanding of Thailand's floating markets, assessing the methodological approach of ANT, and suggesting potential directions for future research.

Exploring actor-network theory in a volunteer tourism context: A delicate balance disrupted by COVID-19

Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork and using Actor-Network Theory (ANT), the authors trace the interactions of a primary actor and other agents within the context of the volunteer tourist experience at a children's home in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. This paper has two key objectives; first to sketch the volunteer tourism reality as it is shaped by the actions of different actors, and second to showcase how this sensitively balanced ecosystem was significantly disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Staying true to the ANT approach and ‘following the actor’ (Latour, 1993), the authors demonstrate how the volunteer tourist setting is relationally reproduced through the incessant alignment of different human and non-human actors and their sometimes conflicting interests and actions. By taking this radical approach, we reveal the need to reconsider the narrative that views all children in orphanages in the global South as victims and pawns of the ‘orphan industrial complex’ and how the children's home in the study offers much-needed support to children and people that have no safety net. The study shows that these actors sometimes unknowingly become part of the network and serve a good cause while acting in pursuit of their own interests.

Toward a democracy of translations? Local evaluation actor networks in Finnish early childhood education

This article examines the local evaluation and assessment practices of Finnish early childhood education and care (ECEC) based on Actor–Network Theory (ANT). We employ the concept of translation to discuss how evaluation and assessment practices unfold in networks and how actors come together in negotiations and contestations that seek to orient these networks. ANT approaches society as being formed of networks and directs attention to non-human actors, such as technical and material resources. In this article, we discuss how local evaluation and assessment networks are formed by translations connecting different actors. This article examines three cases in which various assessment tools were used locally by Finnish ECEC. The results highlight the arbitrariness and elasticity of the networks in the translation process. Thus, we introduce the concept of democracy of translation to examine the flexibility of assessment networks and the extent to which actors in these networks can re-negotiate and re-orient the practices taking place.

Neighborhood group chats as a subject of offline sociology

Neighborhood group chats have become an inseparable attribute of most urban localities. Despite their significant role in the processes of neighborhood communication and the construction of local communities, this phenomenon has been little comprehended by social science. The purpose of this article is to offer variants of adaptation of some sociological approaches to the analysis of the phenomenon of neighborhood chats. The nature of neighborhood chat as an institutional and communication-oriented tool for information exchange is described. The classification of neighborhood chats according to the level of their closeness is given. The forms of control in the selection of participants in closed versions of neighborhood chats are explained. The communicative side of neighborhood chat is proposed to be considered through the prism of E. Goffman’s “dramaturgy”. Conceptualizations of the basic concepts of “dramaturgy” in the context of digital neighborhood interaction are proposed. The complicated nature of neighborhood chat as a technological and social phenomenon is analyzed using the actor-network theory approach. The identification of neighborhood chat as an “actor-network” has been substantiated. The functional side of neighborhood chat as a mechanism of assemblage of neighborhood communities is considered in correlation with R. Oldenburg’s concept of the “third place”. It is shown that the neighborhood chat, being rather a digital simulation of the “third place”, can potentially compensate for the lack of real public spaces in the conditions of typical development, launching and supporting the processes of integration on the locality.

Constructing the accurate forecast: an actor-network theory approach

PurposeThis paper empirically demonstrates the major organizational events of a rolling forecasting process and the roles of controllers therein. In particular, this study aims to investigate how the understanding of a “realistic forecast” is translated and questioned by various mediators in the rolling forecasting process and how it affects the quality of planning as the ultimate accuracy of forecasts is seen as important.Design/methodology/approachThis study follows an actor-network theory (ANT) approach and maps the key points of translation in the rolling forecasting process by inspecting the roles of mediators. This qualitative case study is based on interviews with controllers and managers involved in the forecasting process in a single manufacturing company.FindingsThe paper identified two episodes of translation in the forecasting process, in which the forecast partially stabilized to create room for managerial discussion and debate. The abilities of controllers to infiltrate various functional groups and calculative practices appeared to be one way to control the accuracy of forecasting, although this was built on a façade of neutrality.Originality/valuePrior literature identifies the aims of interactive planning processes as being to improve the quality of planning. The authors apply ANT to better understand the nature of mediators in constructing an entity called a “realistic rolling forecast”.

Disconnection in nature-based tourism experiences: an actor-network theory approach

Disconnection in nature-based tourism experiences: an actor-network theory approach

Supporting collaborative classroom networks through technology: An actor network theory approach to understanding social behaviours and design

This paper presents an implementation of Connected Spaces (CxS)—an ambient help seeking interface designed and developed for a project-based computing classroom. We use actor network theory (ANT) to provide an underutilized posthumanist lens to understand the creation of collaborative connections in this Computational Action-based implementation. Posthumanism offers an emerging and critical extension to sociocultural perspectives on understanding learning, by pushing us to decenter the human, and consider the active roles that human and non-human entities play in learning environments by actively shaping each other. We analyse how students in this class adjusted their help-seeking and collaborative habits following the introduction of CxS, a tool designed to foster (more inter-group) collaboration. ANT proposes generalized symmetry—a principle of considering human, non-human and more than human entities with equivalent and comparable agency, leading to describing phenomena as networks of actors in different evolving relationships with each other. Analysing collaborative interactions as fostered by CxS using an ANT approach supports design-based research—an iterative design revision process highlighting understandings about design as well as learning—by providing a temporal and informative lens into the relationship between actors and tools within the environment. Our key findings include a framing of technologies in classrooms as bridging agentic gaps between students and becoming actors engaging in different behaviours; learners enacting new agencies through technologies (for instance a more comfortable non-intrusive help seeker), and the need for voicing and teachers to connect help networks in CxS equipped classrooms. Practitioner notes What is already known about this topic Collaborative learning is a valuable skill and practice; opportunities to mentor others are critical in empowering minoritized learners, especially in STEM and computing disciplines. School norms solidify a power and expertise hierarchy between teachers and learners and fail to productively support learners in learning from each other. Additionally, lack of awareness about peers' knowledge is a common hindrance in students knowing who to ask for help and how. What this paper adds An example of a designed interface called Connected Spaces with potential to foster more inter-student collaboration, especially outside of mandated within-group collaboration—in the form of cross-group help seeking and help giving. A design based research study using actor network theory highlighting the limitations of Connected Spaces in sparking notable behaviour change among students by itself but being retooled as a teacher support tool in enabling cross-group collaborations. Presenting conceptions of collaboration through technologies as bridging agentic gaps and acting with new agencies in performing help-seeking related actions. Provoking the idea of testing emerging technologies in classrooms along with sharing our analyses and reflections with the classroom as a key idea in computing education—surfacing the gap between designed intentions and the different kinds of extra social work needed in the on-ground success of different technologies. Implications for practice and/or policy Designers and researchers should create and test more interfaces alongside teachers across different classrooms and contexts aimed at supporting different kinds of voluntary collaborative interactions. Curricula, standards and school practices should further center providing students with opportunities to engage as mentors and build communities of learning across disciplines to empower minoritized students. Researchers engaging in design based research should consider using more posthumanist lenses to examine educational technologies and how they affect change in learning environments.

Disruption, Disruptors and Disruptiveness of Scholarly Communication: An Actor-Network Theory Approach

The rise of Open Access, the increasing pace of scientific work, the serial crisis and the need for interdisciplinary research are just some examples of the current disruptions of traditional scholarly communication. As publishing is a significant practice for distributing scientific knowledge and therefor for academic knowledge management, an understanding of the current disruptions in the field is necessary for the future development and maintenance of the system. The paper presents a conceptualization of disruptions drawing from Latour’s Actor-Network-Theory with reference to current understandings of disruption. The aim of the research is the identification and mapping of current disruptions, their disruptors and the disruptiveness in scholarly communication in the field of economic and social sciences by analyzing scientific editorials. Therefore, a short overview about previous analyses of scientific editorials is presented. For the sampling of editorials, a systematic literature search was conducted using Web of Science, followed by an application and comparison of Text Mining operations using R. Afterwards an in-depth investigation of the disruptors as source of disruption and disruptiveness as potential of disruption will be following using qualitative content analysis. The insights of this research will be helpful for anticipating and overcoming the current disruptions as well as for identifying and dealing with future disruptions in the field.

Black boxes and information pathways: An actor-network theory approach to breast cancer survivorship care

Many women diagnosed with breast cancer today can expect to live long after completing their treatment. This growing population of survivors encounters distinct post-treatment health and information needs. Existing survivorship care models take information as a given, black boxing it. I use Actor-Network Theory to examine how information actually works for women after they complete breast cancer treatment, and how it shapes their understanding of survivorship. I draw on in-depth interviews with breast cancer survivors (n = 82) and a wide range of providers (n = 84) in a medically underserved region of Southern California. Black boxes and information pathways convey experiential dimensions of cancer care; they are also metaphoric constructs. The black box metaphor refers to the cancer experience as a container; the pathways metaphor refers to a journey. Each of these metaphors expresses salient dimensions of the cancer experience and has implications for post-treatment survivorship. When healthcare information flows smoothly and invisibly, its pathways become black boxed. Black boxes can be helpful when they function effectively. But since black boxes conceal their inner workings, it is challenging to intervene when difficulties arise. I provide three examples of difficulties that complicate women's transition to post-treatment survivorship: (1) when survivors fail to recognize treatment-related late effects, (2) do not understand they have a terminal diagnosis, or (3) worry that their treatment accomplished nothing. Contextualized within survivorship scholarship, this study recommends opening black boxes to examine how information pathways could connect women differently to improve survivorship care.

Actor-Network Theory in Policy Change of Environmental Permit Policy for the Construction of a Cement Factory in Pati, Indonesia

The determining factor in the success and failure of advocacy is the support network in a coalition formed in policy advocacy. This study analyzes the Kendeng Mountains Community Caring Network in refusing an environmental permit for the construction of a cement factory in Kendeng Mountains, Pati, Indonesia. The government issued the Decree of the Regent of Pati No. 660.1/4767/2014 regarding the environmental permit for the construction of a cement factory. On the other hand, the people around the Kendeng Mountains who have inhabited the area for a dozen years are worried about the plan to build a cement factory that will threaten the ecological balance. The approach used in this study was the Actor-Network Theory of Michael Callon as it can see the phenomenon of the network formed by a Civil Society Organization (CSO) in rejecting the policy of developing the cement industry in their area. This study employed a qualitative method that stands on an interpretive paradigm. Data were collected by observation, documentation, in-depth interviews, and Focus Group Discussion (FGD). The results of this study showed that based on numerous dynamics of the overall use of existing network access, coalition actors have succeeded in proposing the desired policy changes in the form of stricter regulations. These winning coalitions are more often involved in a variety of strategies and have greater public support. Finally, this study contributes significantly to the usefulness of the Actor-Network Theory approach in policy change.

The Making of a Market: The Relational Aspects of Credit Card Installments in Turkey

With over 80 million credit cards, the Turkish credit card market is one of the largest in Europe. As of July 2021, the total annual volume of credit card sales exceeded 588 billion Turkish lira. Installment payments are the most popular form of credit card purchase in Turkey, with 40% of all transactions being installment purchases. The history of the credit card installment market can be traced back to the late 1990s when certain non-procedural –if not fraudulent– point-of-sale level transactions forced banks to launch an installment feature for their credit cards. Although few countries have credit cards with such a feature, this did not emerge from an innovative strategy of a Turkish bank. Instead, “The market gave banks the order to issue such a credit card to be operated in installment purchases,” as stated by the vice president of one of Turkey’s largest commercial banks. Installment sale as a century-old buy-on-credit pattern has allowed a new market device to take part in the polyadic relation of sale and debt until forming a hybrid pattern of buying on credit. Thus, employing the actor-network theory approach for a historical sociology of credit card installments market in Turkey provides a relational explanation for analyzing the emergence of markets. Such an explanation includes the dialectical relations between existing and emerging economic patterns as well as between the relevant parties performing in the processes of making a market.

So did I pass the assessment? Following farm safety checklists to understand pesticide risk reduction using an actor-network theory approach

So did I pass the assessment? Following farm safety checklists to understand pesticide risk reduction using an actor-network theory approach

Биология техники: анализ эволюционных подходов в современной техносфере

The article examines the prospects of biological evolutionary approaches in technosphere in the context of philosophic issues. Consideration of these prospects is based, on the one hand, on methods and research in the field of philosophy of technology, as well as historical epistemology, and on the other hand, on the analysis of modern research on the application of biological ap­proaches in Internet technologies. The author examines the organics and the technics concept genesis, starting with Ernst Kapp, and dwells on the work of Georges Canguilhem on machines and organisms. Then the article discusses the work of Ray Paton as a researcher on biological metaphors in Internet tech­nologies, and two technical papers describing the cases of evolutionary ap­proaches in network processes. In conclusion, the author analyzes the reduc­tionist concept of technical and biological evolution by Adrian Bejan, who considered the unity of evolution of the human-machine species, and notes the importance of actor-network theory approaches, working on a symmetric language for people and machines description. The author demonstrates the prom­ise of biological approaches to network technologies, emphasizing, neverthe­less, first, the greater complexity of the biological in comparison with the con­trolled technical, and, secondly, the need for interdisciplinary consideration, within the framework of which the methodological and conceptual problems of such studies become apparent.