Science Studies Centre,
Department of Sociology,
Lancaster University, UK
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Actor Network Resource
An Annotated Bibliography
Version 2.3
Update, 26th February, 2004
- The ANT resource has been moved, and the web page
names changed. Please bookmark this new url.
- The content has not been changed. We plan to update
this in the near future.
- In its next version the ANT Resource will be resigned
to be access-friendly. Please accept our apologies if there are
currently any difficulties in access.
Update, 9th April, 2000
- The ANT Resource has been updated. The major changes
include
- the addition of 25 new references
- addition of annotations to references in the
alphabetical list
- restoration of url links, both within the resource
and to other on-line papers.
Please note that
- John
Law and John Hassard (eds), (1999) Actor Network Theory
and After, Blackwell
is available. This includes papers by Michel Callon,
Kevin Hetherington, Bruno Latour, John Law, Annemarie Mol, Marilyn
Strathern and Helen Verran.
- John Hassard, John Law and Nick Lee (eds), Organization,
Vol 6, no. 3, 1999 (ISSN 1350-5084) Themed Section: Actor-Network
Theory and Managerialism
is also available ... it contains essays by Allan
Hansen and Jan Mouritsen, Richard Hull, Nick Lee and John Hassard,
and Rolland Munro.
- Kevin Hetherington and John Law (eds),
Society and Space, Special Issue: After Networks
available with papers by Marianne de Laet, Takashi Harada, Kevin
Hetherington and Nick Lee, John Law, Nigel Thrift, and Sarah Whatmore.
The Actor Network Resource
... is located on the Sociology Department WWW pages
at Lancaster University. New references have been added.
Please note that this reource
depends on your submissions! All submissions that follow
the format of the resource will be added. (See below for details)
The relevant WWW pages are as follows
John Law
|
Introduction
'Actor-network theory': What is it? What are the questions it explores? And the
substantive topics? How does it do so? What are its merits? What are its problems? How has
it moved on? How does it relate to other approaches in social theory? These are the topics
covered by the texts included in this annotated bibliography. Our aim is to create a
resource suitable for all those who want to find material in, or relevant to,
actor-network theory.
Overall Organisation
The resource is in two main parts:
- a thematically organised list of references
with annotations. This is itself divided into three parts:
- theory: these are in more or less logical or chronological order
- substantive studies: these are arranged into topics which are organised alphabetically
- related issues: a shorter organised list of topics which overlap with the concerns of
actor-network theory, but belong as much to other theoretical traditions.
Any classification is arbitrary and this is no exception. However, in order to soften
this effect, articles often appear under several headings. It is particularly important to
note that the distinction between 'theory' and 'substantive studies' is uncertain. As with
other approaches in science, technology and society, and cultural studies, actor-network
theory has developed primarily through its empirical studies.
- an alphabetical list of full references,
again with annotations for all those items which appear in the thematic list.
Thematic Organisation
The subthemes are (subject to change - see the note of the current version at the top
of this document) as follows:
Using the Resource
The bibliography is a resource that is freely available. However:
- though this is not strictly necessary, if you use it in your own published
work we would welcome an acknowledgement to the resource itself..
- if you quote the annotations, these should be properly acknowledged in accordance
with the usual academic conventions. The form of acknowledgement should be
as follows:
Actor Network Resource
An Annotated Bibliography
Department of Sociology and Centre for Science Studies, Lancaster University,
UK
Internet Document: http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/sociology/css/antres.htm
Version 2.13
Editorial Principles
In compiling this resource, we have made certain choices and followed certain
principles. These are as follows:
- Issues, Questions and Topics: we are not interested in recommending actor-network
theory, arguing that 'it' is right, or that alternative approaches are wrong. Though there
are some articles in the bibliography which build their intellectual argument that way,
we've assumed, instead, that it is issues, questions and topics that are important.
This means that we've focused so far as possible on these - which also means that there
are texts in the bibliography which don't deal centrally with actor-network theory, or
which 'belong' to other intellectual traditions.
- Actor Network: Not a Unity, Not an Orthodoxy: like any other approach to social
analysis, the texts influenced by actor-network theory represent and develop a range of
concerns and tools. This means that though it is possible to identify certain
preoccupations and concerns common to these texts, there is no orthodoxy, no one 'right
way' of developing the approach. It also means that actor-network is not a single
orthodoxy, a fully consistent body of writing with its holy scriptures. Indeed, the most
creative texts are often those that change and rework its preoccupations and its tools -
or which combine them in one way or another with those of other approaches with which it
is in dialogue. This is another reason why we include a range of references which don't
belong centrally to actor-network theory. The sense of the continuity of debate with other
traditions is itself a vital resource.
- Matter-of-factness: our annotations are matter-of-fact. Of course, both they and
the overall organisation of the bibliography reflect what we take to be important themes
and issues. They also reflect our particular interests and concerns. No commentary is ever
neutral. But on the whole we've tried to avoid opinionated contention and controversy in
favour of relatively matter-of-fact comments which we hope are appropriate to a resource
that will be used by different readers in a wide range of different ways.
- A Point of Growth: the bibliography is incomplete. Any resource is necessarily
incomplete. In particular, as is unavoidable, it represents the articles which we have
encountered and which seem to us to be important or useful. Many users will find glaring
omissions. This also means that we intend that it will grow. That growth will come in two
ways. We will add further publications which we ourselves encounter. In addition, within
the limits set by our resources, we'll add submissions made to us by readers. So this is
also a request. We will accept additions, if
- they are written in the same matter-of-fact style, and
- they conform to the existing bibliographic conventions of the resource. (Please note
that the authorship of submissions won't be acknowledged in the bibliography: if they are
accepted they will appear anonymously.).
Updating and Amending the Resource
As indicated above, the bibliographies are growing, and the resource will become more
useful as this occurs. Accordingly, we welcome
- comments and suggestions for changes and
- (in particular) additions which fill gaps in the bibliography, so long as these are
consistent in terms of style and bibliographic format.
If you would like to contribute by suggesting another resource, please follow the
format suggested on the page for submitting an entry.
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Last Change: 26th February, 2004 |