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Actor-network theory and anthropology after science, technology, and society

University of Texas at Austin, USA, rmo{at}mail.utexas.edu

This essay makes a case for the value of actor-network theory (ANT) to anthropology beyond its most usual deployment in studies of science, technology, and society (STS). Through a review of two recent ANT works against both the longer-term development of the approach and common patterns of anthropological appropriation and critique over the past several years, it argues that `about-ANT' and `across-ANT' understandings that emphasize an applicability to technoscience or situations of hybridity should give way to `among-ANT' readings that highlight its quality as a domain-independent ontology of association. Most centrally, it offers a reading of the constitutive spatialities of ANT itself and of spatiality as an important ANT concern, with the suggestion that a greater appreciation for this dimension of the literature might form the basis of broader and more varied anthropological engagements.

Key Words: actor-network theory (ANT) • Bruno Latour • John Law • science • technology and society (STS) • space and place • spatiality

Anthropological Theory, Vol. 7, No. 4, 471-493 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1463499607083430


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