Actor-Network Theory: A framework for studying the ways in which networks are sustained by human practices, objects, technologies, and representations (…) ANT emerges from attempts to interpret the frequently overlooked work that needs to be carried out to ‘‘knit together’’ human actors and non-human actors, the technical and the non-technical, with the aim to reveal ways in which networks and relations are assembled and maintained, and thus made ‘‘social’’ (or not) (…) It maps relations that are simultaneously material (between things) and semiotic (between concepts) (…) relations need to be constantly “performed”, otherwise the network will resolve (…) Actor-Network Theory does not typically attempt to explain why a network exists; it is more interested in the infrastructure of actor-networks, how they are formed, how they can fall apart, etc.

References

Paul Jones & Kenton Card (2011) Constructing “Social Architecture”: The Politics of Representing Practice, Architectural Theory Review, 16:3, 228-244, DOI: 10.1080/13264826.2011.621543

Wikipedia: The Actor-Network Theory

Learning Theories: ANT available here

Image available here