Ranisha Das

Actor Network Theory

Actor-Network theory or A.N.T. is an interesting approach to studying an unstable and diverse collection of human, non-human, and hybrid actors. Non-human actors include objects like technology and equipment. The theory concentrates on the interactions taking place between these actors. It can be used to explain the importance of mobile phones in society, for example. The main feature is to focus on the inanimate objects that affect social processes. All actors are, therefore, a source of action regardless of their human or non-human status.

Actor-Network theory doesn’t support the idea that technology impacts society as an external force but instead reinforces the idea that it is through the budding or evolution of social interests, technology emerged into what we see it as it is today. Innovations can shape social interactions in the future, provided they are catering to the interests of one or many social groups that may or may not share commonalities. The carry-on 88-key foldable piano, for instance, is clear evidence of an evolution in a certain musical instrument that caters to functionalities like compatibility, weight, and battery life to name a few.

A.N.T. considers the world is full of networks. These networks include humans, ideas, objects, and concepts, all of which are actors or network components. Understanding and mapping associations or relationships between these components is one of the key activities of A.N.T. It is through this that we can understand how networks originated in the first place, how a constellation of several sub-networks can group up to be one large universe of a network, and, how impacting one actor, who may be intentional (like humans and concepts involved), organic (like living matter) or mechanical (like machinery and equipment), can impact the entire network.

Cartography of Controversies is a practice of A.N.T. minus the need to practice a specific methodology. However, the need of the hour is that the complexities are made user-friendly with observation and description. One such cartography is to be achieved by mapping how the technology is solving a climate problem faced by a country located 137km from the equator- Singapore. The climate change problem is compounded by the Urban Heat Island Effect where the demand for air conditioners increases exponentially.

One climate solution that I am going to study is the implementation of the district cooling network that has been implemented in Marina Bay, Singapore, and now is looking to scale to other regions. The primary actors playing a key role in this story could be the technology, that is the industrial equipment that produces chill water supplied for commercial buildings, followed by the factors causing the Urban Heat Island Effect, the industrialists involved in the project, the government, the people who are facing the heat, and the commercialists in the targeted areas to name a few.

It is interesting to learn that climatologists cannot be the only ones who assess climate change as mentioned in the literature “Diving in Magma”. The other actors involved in the network of climate problems like tribal communities, national wildlife species, industrialists, and tycoons, are all equally responsible for global warming. Some are very influential than the rest because of power and we already know that all actors are not “born with equal opportunities”. So, is there some sort of bias that is covering the reality? What is it that we do not see? Whose voices do we not hear?