According
to week 4’s lecture notes and readings, the main topic of this week is actor-network theory
which developed by the staff Michel Callon and Bruno Latour.
To more details, it illustrates the connection and interaction between humans and non-human actors that
form the new network and it also mentions the relationship
between scientific practice and social background.
According to actor-network theory,
it says that the scientific practice and social background are working and
producing stuffs together; they do not have a causal relationship but develop in
company. In addition, the actors in actor-network theory are generalized that
both be appropriate for humans (actor) and non-human strength (actant). On the
basis of the book science in action, Latour has said that science is a field of
both human and non-human interactions, where either party is not given special
priority, which seems like human and non-human are equally exist on the world.
Actually, it is intricate to
analyze the network in this theory. Because it seems like an assemblage who concentrates resources
in certain places-NODE, and the notes have connect the dispersed resources into
a net and extend to all corners. It can be found in wiki that the most important
and fundamental purpose of using the word ‘network’ in this theory is to make
human and non-human equally, especially in network sphere. In Latour’s viewpoint,
there is no opposition between natural and society. However in contrast, they
are completely integrated and both the elements in network.
Additionally, in terms of the
actor-network theory, it emphasizes the different relationships. The first main
point is about human and non-human, it can be conclude that they might be
placed on the equal footing in the network. For instance, in the previous,
teachers and scholars are the particular human who are supposed impart
knowledge, but now the network can do everything they did and even do better
than them, because students can get everything they need online such as Google,
wiki and so on. Therefore, in some respects, human and non-human are equally in
network and this can be regard as a good phenomenon that shows the network and
human are developing together and they are completely integrated.
As i mentioned before, an assemblage can be defined as a text which is adapted
from the older versions that aims to adapt a new context. This is possible to blear
the line between invented and borrowed work. It is obviously to see that the
music always has been ‘remixed’ to adapt the modern audiences. In addition,
because of the fast moving nature of publishing which caused the phenomena that
publishers are made to adapt, assemblages may be possible to allow publishers
to achieve some sort of control over the content audiences are able to see. Similarly,
another example is about the concept of a paywall. It seems like a system which
prevents users from accessing site content without a paid subscription. Through
this way, publishers can not only boost revenue, but also increase the amount
of their print subscribers, again changing the nature of new publishing
platforms and also giving publishers a degree of control over their audience.
In summary, it is obviously to see that with the appearance
of technology and a various range of publishing platforms, the history of
publishing tools and techniques has changed forever. Even at present, publishing is
a dynamic force which is changing to order to adapt to the new types of
audiences being formed by new publishing devices all the times. This change is the
key to understanding the social impact publishing has had on the general public.
No comments:
Post a Comment