Varieties of Actor-Network Theory in Information Systems Research

In the last two decades Actor-Network Theory (ANT), which originated in Science and Technology Studies in Paris, has been used as a framework for interpretive research in a number of areas, including history, ecology, transport studies and health studies. In this paper we describe how a number of projects used ANT for research into the development and use of information systems (IS). ANT has never been clearly defined, and is certainly more an attitude than a theory or methodology. One of its chief characteristics is an insistence on symmetry or even-handedness. Equal attention is given to explanations of success and failure, to the concerns of humans and non-humans, and to very broad and extremely detailed views. The features of a particular case always dominate, and the number of general theories is minimal. This leads to a wide variety of "schools", interpretations and methods. Three major concerns are the spread and interpretation of scripts (in the earlier work of Latour), the enrolment of the necessary actors in a project (Callon), and the dissemination of an actor network as a complete package, a black box (Law's immutable mobiles). Questions of adoption and enrolment have been of particular interest in IS research, with applications in such areas as the introduction of technology into developing countries, the adoption of standards, and the acceptance of integrated IS solutions (enterprise resource planning packages). The cases discussed in this paper include a strategy for flexible learning in a university, the installation of packaged software in a large company, the introduction of an intranet in a media organisation, and the introduction of a university institutional repository. Each of the research projects took a different aspect of ANT as its starting point, but all used the basic strengths of ANT to give new insights into other wise intractable phenomena. These projects suggest a variety of suitable approaches for those wishing to use ANT as a guide in their research journey.