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

Abstract

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.