The book serves as an excellent primer for those wanting to learn about Actor-Network Theory through the lens of organisation theory.

In this book a number of European and American scholars apply Actor-Network Theory (ANT) in the study of various aspects of organization, including technology, organizational change, routines, virtual organization, strategy, power, market mechanisms, consumer behaviour, public administration and knowledge management.

What are organizations? Where do they come from? How are they transformed and adapted to new situations? In the digital age and in the global network society, traditional theories of the organization can no longer answer these questions. Based on actor-network theory, this book explains organizations as flexible, open networks in which both human and non-human actors enter into socio-technical assemblies by constantly negotiating and re-negotiating programs of action. Organizations are not macro social structures or autonomous systems operating behind the backs of individuals. Instead, they are scalable actor-networks guided by network norms of connectivity, flow, communication, participation, authenticity, and flexibility.

This book provides empirically driven discussions and investigations in the relevance of Actor Network Theory (ANT) and its theoretical concepts. As our civilization evolves from a human to a technologically driven society, new socio-technical network of actors – in society, industry and government are emerging by the day. These networks of actors collaborate to produce contemporary goods and services; handle production processes; manage risks; develop social and commercial networks; develop policies; manage complexities; and create a new way of life. This book provides unique conceptual tools needed to analyze such processes, highlighting the effectiveness of ANT in fostering collaborations between governments, organizations and society.

Reassembling the Social is a fundamental challenge from one of the world's leading social theorists to how we understand society and the 'social'. Bruno Latour's contention is that the word 'social', as used by Social Scientists, has become laden with assumptions to the point where it has become misnomer. When the adjective is applied to a phenomenon, it is used to indicate a stablilized state of affairs, a bundle of ties that in due course may be used to account for another phenomenon. But Latour also finds the word used as if it described a type of material, in a comparable way to an adjective such as 'wooden' or 'steely'. Rather than simply indicating what is already assembled together, it is now used in a way that makes assumptions about the nature of what is assembled. It has become a word that designates two distinct things: a process of assembling; and a type of material, distinct from others. Latour shows why 'the social' cannot be thought of as a kind of material or domain, and disputes attempts to provide a 'social explanations' of other states of affairs. While these attempts have been productive (and probably necessary) in the past, the very success of the social sciences mean that they are largely no longer so. At the present stage it is no longer possible to inspect the precise constituents entering the social domain. Latour returns to the original meaning of 'the social' to redefine the notion, and allow it to trace connections again. It will then be possible to resume the traditional goal of the social sciences, but using more refined tools. Drawing on his extensive work examining the 'assemblages' of nature, Latour finds it necessary to scrutinize thoroughly the exact content of what is assembled under the umbrella of Society. This approach, a 'sociology of associations', has become known as Actor-Network-Theory, and this book is an essential introduction both for those seeking to understand Actor-Network Theory, or the ideas of one of its most influential proponents.

This book contains the papers presented and discussed at the conference that was held in May/June 1997, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, and that was sponsored by Working Group 8.2 of the International Federation for Information Processing. IFIP established 8.2 as a group concerned with the interaction of information systems and the organization. Information Systems and Qualitative Research is essential reading for professionals and students working in information systems in a business environment, such as systems analysts, developers and designers, data administrators, and senior executives in all business areas that use information technology, as well as consultants in the fields of information systems, management, and quality management.

"Actor-Network Theory (ANT) has over the past few decades developed into a practical, challenging and intriguing tool for studying organizing. Its unique approach brings to light the multiple ways that people, artifacts, institutions and organizations become intertwined. ANT-inspired studies illuminate connections, complexities and interactions that are left obscure by mainstream views. This second edition of the 2005 book shows anew how ANT may be applied to the study of aspects of organization as diverse as technology, organizational change, routines, virtual organization, strategy, power, market mechanisms, consumer behavior, public administration and knowledge management. The book is suitable for researchers and higherlevel students, and serves as an excellent primer for those wanting to learn about ANT through the lens of organization theory. Actor-Network Theory (ANT) started with stories about strange worlds inhabited by scallops, microbes or Portuguese caravels sharing their lives with human beings. It is now a wide field of research explicitly open to new contributions, translations and problematizations. This innovative book writes a new chapter in the ANT saga. Based on a series of field studies, it shows very convincingly how this now widely recognized approach might be helpful to revisit notions like power, organization and market. Michel Callon, CSI, Ecole des Mines de Paris"