Following the Actors: mobilising an actor-network theory methodology in geography

Abstract

Methodological shifts in human geography, generally under the banner of the 'cultural turn', have seen an increased focus on methods such as interviews, discourse and textual deconstruction, and the recognition of notions such as reflexivity and intersubjectivity. Together these approaches argue that there is no logical natural order of things or notions of universality. These approaches argue that there is no such thing as objectivity in social research, but that research is informed by the experiences, aims and agency of those performing the research and that researchers should be written into the research environment. Drawing on these insights, the purpose of this paper is to explore a methodological approach centred on actor-network theory (ANT) and suggest how this approach could add value to research being undertaken in human geography. Within such an approach all research findings are created by the researcher through, first, the objectives and framing of a research project and, second, the methods used to create and follow the research network. Drawing on research into residential development and planning on the fringe of Sydney, Australia, this paper has three objectives: first, to position all research as partial and as the product of associations that stretch beyond the research field; second, to argue that all research is a process of translation; and, third, to explore the manner in which we as researchers construct ourselves in efforts to enter networks of research interest.

Engaged witnessing: Researching with the more‐than‐human

“…In this way, my practice of engaged witnessing connects to the concept from Latour () of “following the actors”. However more than just “unearth[ing] the complex web of relations between humans and non‐humans … [in] an attempt to accord non‐humans their due place in the construction of the world” (Ruming, , pp. 453–454), engaged witnessing attends more closely to the multi‐sensual and response‐able nature of encounters and how agents become‐with and become‐witness together.…”

Actor-network theory as a reflexive tool: (inter)personal relations and relationships in the research process

“…Latour (2005, 12) suggests that by ‘following the actors’ in research we may come to better understand the world. In part, this means exploring the process of enrolment – how actors constitute other actors through their own assembly (Ruming 2009, 454). Importantly, actors (human and non‐human, material and nonmaterial) should not be simply equated to agency and networks to structure (Latour 1999; Bosco 2006).…”

“…As Hitchings argues, however, geographers generally employ ANT to investigate larger networks, which ‘inevitably overlook[s] the articulations of power within single links within them’ (2003, 110). Furthermore, Ruming (2009) explains that geographers have given far less attention to analysing methodological issues through ANT. Employing ANT, she considers how the researcher as actor is produced through relations, past and present, with other human and non‐human actors and how she translates this network, while elucidating how uneven power is created through actor‐networks in and interconnected to the research project.…”

“…Employing ANT, she considers how the researcher as actor is produced through relations, past and present, with other human and non‐human actors and how she translates this network, while elucidating how uneven power is created through actor‐networks in and interconnected to the research project. Ruming (2009) studies implications of the researcher's relational positionality with other actors to research outcomes, access to the field, and translation(s) of the project to an audience. Indeed, ANT can be pertinent in scrutinising the research process because it acknowledges that actors are simultaneously situated in multiple networks of varying scales.…”

“…Rather, as Smith (1992, 60) explicates, scales may be ‘jumped’ where ‘lower’ scales may effectively supersede ‘higher’ scales. By careful consideration of shifting relations and power between actors in ‘smaller’ networks, such as the research network (Ruming 2009), we may gain the type of reflexive engagement that elucidates broader implications from and to the research process. Using vignettes from my dissertation research, I examine my research relations and relationships from personal experiences through the lens of ANT in conjunction with consideration of qualitative methodological research that corresponds with ideas from ANT.…”