The Translation Zone: Between Actor-Network Theory and International Relations

TLDR

Actor‑network theory cannot be applied wholesale to empirical examples without adaptation. The article investigates how to translate actor‑network theory into international relations and presents three arguments for doing so. The authors use Apter’s translation zone concept, analyze the link between actor‑network theory and empirical case studies, and assess IR challenges to propose adjustments.

Abstract

This article examines the problem of how to translate actor-network theory into the field of international relations, and develops three arguments. Firstly, the article draws on Emily Apter’s notion of the ‘translation zone’ both to rethink the concept of translation in actor-network theory and to highlight the relation between translation and politics. Secondly, the article interrogates the relation between actor-network theory and empirical research, emphasising the ways in which empirical case studies can have theoretically generative implications. Indeed, actor-network theory should not be understood as a body of theory that can be simply applied to a range of empirical examples. Finally, the article examines a number of problems that international relations poses for actor-network theory. I argue that actor-network theory needs to be adjusted and reconfigured in response to the challenge of international relations.