Actor Network Theory
Definition
A set of ideas created by Bruno Latour to describe systems of actors and actants.
History
Networked Based Analysis
Questions of subjectivities, agencies, actors, and structures have been of perennial interest in Anthropology. In Cyborg Anthropology the question of what type of cybernetic system constitutes an actor/subject becomes all the more important. Is it the actual technology that acts on humanity (the Internet), the general techno-culture (silicon valley), government sanctions (net-neutrality), specific innovative humans (Steve Jobs), or some type of combination of these elements?
Actor Network Theory (ANT), as proposed by Bruno Latour, has proven to be one of the most valiant theories of understanding how these different elements work together to produce techno-cultural phenomenon. Latour situates actors/subjects as actor nodes that function within larger distributed networks of mutual interaction and feedback loops. Through this approach, Latour avoids the two extremes of a purely materialist system in which humans have no agency (exemplified in Mintz' "Sweetness and Power') and a radically anthropocentric approach that mitigates any agency of supra-human elements (humans are the only agents). Cyborg Anthropology needs to be able to analyze the fluid exchange between technological actors and human actors, especially since the technologies being studied actively dismantle our ontological pre-suppositions as to what constitutes a "human" or "technology".
Applications
- Applied by cyborg anthropologist Deborah Heath to the human genome project.
- Applied by Amber Case to her thesis on cell phones and their technosocial sites of engagement.
