spinuzzi network-3
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How are Networks Theorized?
Clay SpinuzziClay.spinuzzi@utexas.edu
Value
• Grounding in activity theory: history, assumptions, applications
• Grounding in actor-network theory: history, assumptions, applications
• Strengths of each theory• Differences between the theories• Applications of each theory to social media
THE FIGHT
THE FIRST STROKE
The Central Disagreement
• Activity theory: Development precedes and underpins political-rhetorical interests [weaving]
• Actor-network theory: Political-rhetorical interests precede and underpin development [splicing]
ACTIVITY THEORY: KEY CONCEPTS
0. Engelsian dialectics1. Mediation2. Structure of activity3. Contradictions4. Activity networks
0. Engelsian Dialectics
• “The dialectical laws are really laws of development of nature, and therefore are valid also for theoretical natural science” (Engels 1954, p.84).
• Not only does dialectic constitute a “universally valid … general law of development of nature, society, or thought,” it also constitutes a universally valid law of development for the natural world (p.91).
1. Mediation
“typified rhetorical responses to recurring social situations”
2. Structure of ActivityLevel Focus Chars Timescale Aware? Disruption
Macro Activity Culture, history; social action, social memory
Year, decades
No Contradiction
Meso Goal Tool-in-use; tactics
Minutes, hours
Yes Discoordination
Micro Operation Rules, habits Seconds No Breakdown
2. Structure of Activity
3. Contradictions
Primary Contradictions
Secondary Contradictions
Tertiary Contradictions
Quaternary Contradictions
4. Activity Networks
4. Activity Networks
Example: Coworking
• Coworking = “working alone, together”• Coworking sites = open plan workspaces
where unaffiliated people can work in each others’ presence
• Coworkers and proprietors don’t agree on what coworking is
Exercise: What’s your activity?
• What is the object they’re cyclically trying to achieve?
• What’s the outcome they’re trying to produce? (Why are they doing it?)
(Figure out the object and outcome, and you’ll be able to determine the rest of the activity.)
Social Media in an Activity System
Social Media in an Activity Network
Social Media in an Activity Network
Social Media in an Activity Network
Activity Theory: Summing Up
• Woven, developmental• Nodes: activities, which develop over time• Links: interconnections among activities and
components of activities• Splicing explicitly built on top of weaving• The first stroke is a weave
ACTOR-NETWORK THEORY: KEY CONCEPTS
0. Machiavelli1. Actor-Networks2. Mediation3. Translation4. Composition5. Black-Boxing6. Delegation
1. Actor-Networks
• Actants define each other (Callon 1991, p.142)• The actant is the effect of the network, not its
cause (Law 1992)• ANT is ontological.
2. Mediation
• In ANT, creating a relation (link) between two actants (nodes)
• All actants are also intermediaries• Agency is distributed
Genres Developed Over Iterations
Mediation Involves…
• Translation• Composition• Reversible Black-Boxing• Delegation
3. Translation
a. Problematizationb. Interessementc. Enrollmentd. Mobilization
4. Composition
• The assemblage becomes an actant.• “Who performs the action?”• “Action is simply not a property of humans but
an association of actants” (Latour 1999b, p.182; cf. Berg 1999, Law 1986b).
5. Reversible Black-Boxing
• “I’ll call X.”• “The phone’s not working.” • “The line is dead.” • “I called Telecorp and they’ll send someone
out.” • “Telecorp didn’t tell the BigTel technician
there was a dog in our yard.”
6. Delegation
Exercise: How is translation happening in your case?
• Problematization. What’s the problem to be solved?
• Interessement. What people and resources must be defined to address the problem?
• Enrollment. How are these people and resources given roles? Defined and attributed?
• Mobilization. How can they be persuaded to link up and address the problem?
GENUINE DIFFERENCES
Genuine Differences
Activity Theory Actor-Network Theory
The first stroke is a weave The first stroke is a splice
Developmental Political-rhetorical
Competence, Cognition Negotiation
Dialectic Rhizomatic
Genealogical Antigenealogical
Asymmetrical Symmetrical
Structural Relational
Irreversible Reversible
Contradictions Translations
Epistemology Ontology
Genuine Differences
Activity Theory Actor-Network Theory
The first stroke is a weave The first stroke is a splice
Developmental Political-rhetorical
Competence, Cognition Negotiation
Dialectic Rhizomatic
Genealogical Antigenealogical
Asymmetrical Symmetrical
Structural Relational
Irreversible Reversible
Contradictions Translations
Epistemology Ontology
Genuine Differences
Activity Theory Actor-Network Theory
The first stroke is a weave The first stroke is a splice
Developmental Political-rhetorical
Competence, Cognition Negotiation
Dialectic Rhizomatic
Genealogical Antigenealogical
Asymmetrical Symmetrical
Structural Relational
Irreversible Reversible
Contradictions Translations
Epistemology Ontology
Genuine Differences
Activity Theory Actor-Network Theory
The first stroke is a weave The first stroke is a splice
Developmental Political-rhetorical
Competence, Cognition Negotiation
Dialectic Rhizomatic
Genealogical Antigenealogical
Asymmetrical Symmetrical
Structural Relational
Irreversible Reversible
Contradictions Translations
Epistemology Ontology
Genuine Differences
Activity Theory Actor-Network Theory
The first stroke is a weave The first stroke is a splice
Developmental Political-rhetorical
Competence, Cognition Negotiation
Dialectic Rhizomatic
Genealogical Antigenealogical
Asymmetrical Symmetrical
Structural Relational
Irreversible Reversible
Contradictions Translations
Epistemology Ontology
Genuine Differences
Activity Theory Actor-Network Theory
The first stroke is a weave The first stroke is a splice
Developmental Political-rhetorical
Competence, Cognition Negotiation
Dialectic Rhizomatic
Genealogical Antigenealogical
Asymmetrical Symmetrical
Structural Relational
Irreversible Reversible
Contradictions Translations
Epistemology Ontology
Commonalities
• Heterogeneous• Multiply linked• Transformative• Black-boxed
Takeaways
• Grounding in activity theory: history, assumptions, applications
• Grounding in actor-network theory: history, assumptions, applications
• Strengths of each theory• Differences between the theories• Applications of each theory to social media
Exercise: Analyzing an Activity
• Identify the object of your activity: the problem space or material around which people’s effort is focused, the problem space that is cyclically transformed.
• Identify the outcome: what results from the cyclical transformation. Think in terms of motives or benefits.
• Based on these, identify the other components of the activity.
Exercise: Identifying Black Boxes
• In the same case, identify a black box (e.g., “I’m making a call”).
• Try decomposing the black box. What components or actants compose it and hold it together?
• Try examining translation. Where did these actants come from, and how did they come together?
• Repeat – forever.
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