Cultural Objects in a Transforming World: An #Actor-Network Article Summary

Glad to be back thinking #5Papers in practice, here as we begin another week!

1/ I read Beckstead (2015) Cultural objects in a transforming world http://doi.org/10.1177/1354067X14551300 for #5Papers today

2/ This theoretical work takes a psychological approach to groups through an #Actor-Network Theory frame #ANTheory

3/ #Actor-Network Theory posits groups and society is not static, but always maintaining itself and its parts

4/ This is a challenge when social groups have spokespeople who speak on behalf of a community

5/ While groups are comprised of associations between people and non-human elements, all with agency

6/ Networks of humans and non-human actors together blur distinctions between actors and the network

7/ People within groups do not develop ties to one another in isolation, but only through non-human actors in their networks

8/ Change and maintenance of groups happens not only by the various actors alone, but by the networks themselves

9/ While a theoretical work, human and non-human actors appear to stabilize networks while never being static on their own

10/ This is a useful conception of #Actor-Network Theory as it is fairly jargon-free with implications for cultures themselves

The next work will be Swan, J., Scarbrough, H., & Ziebro, M. (2015). Liminal roles as a source of creative agency in management: The case of knowledge-sharing communities. Human Relations. http://doi.org/10.1177/0018726715599585