ERIC Number: EJ794732
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006
Pages: 18
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1047-8248
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Nonhumans Unbound: Actor-Network Theory and the Reconsideration of "Things" in Educational Foundations
Waltz, Scott B.
Educational Foundations, v20 n3-4 p51-68 Sum-Fall 2006
The aim of this paper is to call attention to the missing discourse of non-humans as social actors in the Social Foundations of Education. The paper outlines three common figuring metaphors that impede the adoption of such a theoretical discourse and shows how Actor-Network Theory (ANT), more recently developed in the nascent field of Science and Technology Studies (STS), reframes sociological theory--and specifically, what it means to be a "social actor"--to allow for a more comprehensive accounting of the interactions of humans and nonhumans in the fabrication of the social. A corollary aim of the paper is to highlight the role of nonhumans in contemporary educational concerns. The paper also offers a range of different examples to illustrate its points. (Contains 8 notes.)
Descriptors: Science and Society, Foundations of Education, Educational Technology, Simulated Environment, Communication (Thought Transfer), Cybernetics, Social Environment, Role Theory, Educational Sociology, Animals, Textbooks, Context Effect, Gender Issues
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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