I have just read “Some elements of a sociology of translation: domestication of the scallops and the fishermen of St Brieuc Bay” by Michael Callon. This paper is a very good exposition of how ANT works in practice. I have found many later papers are not as clear or as well written as this early paper. Many recent papers such as Jim S Dolwick’s ‘The Social’ and Beyond: Introducing Actor-Network Theory are written in obscure and overly complex language. It seems that one way of creating a difference in journal writing is to use an obfuscating style. Another older (original) paper by John Law, Notes on the Theory of the Actor Network: Ordering Strategy and Heterogeneity is also a clear description of ANT in use…

An Ant

For example the concept of Punctualisation are in effect just simplifications of complex networks in the social sphere. Punctualisation can be summed up in a concept such as a railway station or sugar beet as an ingredient in a soft drink. They contain within them many other heterogeneous assemblages or networks. For example sugar from a sugar beet listed as an ingredient on a soft drink is an Actant in a network of other actants (actors) such as farmers, the soil, pesticides, pickers, the distribution network , the marketing company, processing plants, advertising companies, banks etc. etc. As Law states heterogeneous networks are precarious because they can fall apart at any time and turn into failing networks. Punctualisation though is a way of dealing with Networks of the Social without getting involved with a lot of complexity.