Discussion of Special Issue of Qualitative Sociology: Reassembling Ethnography Actor-Network Theory and Sociology

• In Event: 365 - Section on Sociology of Culture Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 08. Materiality

Abstract

Qualitative Sociology's December issue explores the purchase of Actor-Network Theory for qualitative and ethnographic sociologies. Founded in the early 1980s by Bruno Latour, Michel Callon, and John Law, ANT has become one of the most exciting and innovative intellectual developments in recent memory. Originally developed as an alternative approach in the sociology of science, it has long professed and exhibited usefulness in the analysis of all arenas of social life. Although ANT concepts, theories, and sensibilities have been taken up across the social sciences and humanities, sociology, particularly within the
U.S. context, has lagged.Envisioned as an exercise in translation, this special issue introduces, engages, and expands on many of ANT’s signature features,such as its skepticism towards taken-for-granted divisions, categories, and concepts, its attention to processes of circulation, its interest in the relational interface between humans and nonhumans, and finally its appreciation for uncertainty and multiplicity. The issue features seven empirically rich and theoretically provocative essays on art, materiality and meaning-making; devices of democratic representation; independent film and the formation of “civil society;” urban social movements and the limits of parliamentarian politics; genomics and science of race; the conversion of religious buildings; and reflexivity in sociological account-making. The issue concludes with a thoughtful and thought-provoking essay by ANT founder, John Law, and Vicky Singleton, that explores the origins and afterlives of ANT. Calling for a serious engagement, this special issue is sure to stimulate discussion about ANT’s potential to inspire a deeper, wider, and more robust ethnographic imagination.

Authors

• Diana Bevin Graizbord, Brown University

• Gianpaolo Baiocchi, Brown University