ABSTRACT
This chapter defines what is meant by actor-network theory, discusses its goals and objectives, and examines two recent environmental studies that use actor-network theory. In a recent study, Michael Campbell was interested in sustainability of rain-fed agriculture in Ghana. In a recent study, the anthropologist Nobuhiro Kishigami considers how Inupiat communities, whose way of life has traditionally been closely tied to subsistence hunting of bowhead whales, have been affected by recent climate change. The anthropologist Christoph Campregher recently applied actor-network theory to understand hydropower development in Costa Rica. The idea behind actor-network theory is to treat systems as networks of connections, and to treat objects within networks as actors interacting through these connections. Actor-network theory provides a framework for modeling complex systems, where many factors are interrelated in evolving, dynamic ways. In actor-network theory, the influence of human actants stems not just from any intrinsic qualities but from strength and power of their connections with other actants in the system.
