HC6- ANT and material semiotics

Question 1

ANT

Answer 1

Actor-Network Theory (ANT) is a social theory that emphasizes the importance of both humans and nonhuman entities, referring to them as “actants,” in shaping social processes and networks [1]. According to ANT, actants have equal agency and are interconnected, creating a network of relationships that shape society. ANT is effective at describing how technological systems and inventions come into being [2]. The theory is also focused on the role of inanimate entities in social processes [3]. Overall, ANT seeks to transform how social scientists think about the relationship between humans and technology by giving equal importance to both.

-There is no difference in diciplines according to ANT in how knowledge is gained. Because the process of knowing a phenomenon does not differ.

Question 2

Dementia and ANT

Answer 2

2 ways of looking:
1. With a biomedical view
2. With a social view

There is no existing order, it takes work to order a phenomenon as dementia.

Talking about mobility instead of migration activates other politics.

Question 3

Objectivity

Answer 3

=situated knowledge= about normativity

Question 4

materially heterogenous

Answer 4

the world is made up of a diverse array of objects, materials and processes that interact in complex ways. Therefore also tehe social world is also diverse and complex. There is no such thing as a fixed context

Question 5

The social

Answer 5

Not limited to humans, relation to other things can also be social.

Question 6

'’nobody acts alone’’

Answer 6

Annemarie Mol’s statement “nobody acts alone” refers to the core idea of the Actor-Network Theory (ANT). According to ANT, humans and nonhumans (e.g., technologies, institutions, natural objects) are interconnected and shape social processes and networks. Actants, both human and nonhuman, have equal agency, meaning they can influence and affect each other. Therefore, when Mol says “nobody acts alone,” she is emphasizing the importance of considering the relationships between actants in any social process. And there position in the network.

Question 7

How Mol and Law differ from other approaches

Answer 7

-agency is not necessarily human, other approaches it is.