ABSTRACT
Drawing on Actor-Network Theory, this chapter introduces the notions of translation and performativity to provide a novel perspective on professional identity and social work. It presents observational data of an interactional event between a social worker and a client. The chapter elucidates the techno-social heterogeneity of the event through an analysis based on the Actor-Network Theory of translation. It discusses the precarious and temporary natures of the techno-social hybrids in social work through the concept of performance. The first concept, translation, will help us develop a richer description of doing by deliberately blurring the line between the social and the technological. The second concept, performance, will help us describe how several different patterns of practices simultaneously unfold when social work is taking place. The chapter focuses on how an actor-network-inspired analysis of socio-technical performance may contribute to discussions about professional identity in social work.
