Jim Underwood

Not Another Methodology What Ant Tells Us About Systems Development

This paper proposes an interpretive technique for understanding IS development which uses complementary features of actornetwork (ANT) theory and Foucault’s theory of discourse. The technique is being applied to a loosely structured project which is working towards the construction of a flexible teaching and learning environment based on the internet. The paper traces the fortunes of two of the non-human actors in this setting. The combination of ANT/discourse theory is found to be an effective descriptive tool for IS development but it is not clear how it could contribute to a methodology. Some possible directions are suggested and balanced against possible organisational and psychological barriers to using such a methodology.

Translation, Betrayal and Ambiguity in IS Development

This paper uses semiotic theories to model how meaning is constructed during an IS development project. Conventionally, shared meanings among all project stakeholders are regarded as a prerequisite for success. Based on an analysis of documents relating to a flexible learning pilot project developed at an Australian university, a model of meaning was built combining actor-network theory and Foucault’s theory of discourse. Important scripts were identified from internal working documents and their meaning discussed with a variety of human actors. Scripts within the actor network were interpreted with reference to expert discourses familiar to the various actors. Further analysis using this model shows how mistranslation can occur in at least two distinct ways as scripts pass between actors; through apparent acceptance of espoused scripts and the pragmatic betrayal of scripts-in-use. In our case study project these two types of mistranslation were used to maintain ambiguity over certain key issues throughout the life of the project, and this ambiguity contributed significantly to project’s success.

Having a Say: Voices for all the Actors in ANT Research?

This article explores issues associated with giving non-human actors a voice of their own in actornetwork theory based research. What issues arise in doing so? Does doing so increase understanding of the issue to hand, bring to life and make more accessible and interesting the stories of these actors? Or does this anthropomorphism detract from the issues at hand? The authors discuss these broader issues and then present findings from an ANT field study which investigated the implementation of institutional repositories and their relations with the spread of open access to scholarly publishing. This paper experiments with allowing some of the non-human actors to speak for themselves. The authors conclude with a discussion which opens the debate: does giving voice to non-human actors bring them to life and make them better understood as intimately entangled with each other and human actors in the socio-material practices of the everyday? And what are the challenges in doing so? DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-1559-5.ch004

Rewriting, redesigning and reimagining the recipe for more sustainable food systems

This paper describes Red Hen Recipes, a user generated recipe site that seeks to connect buying, cooking and eating practices with the modes of food production through the redesign of the recipe format. User research found recipes to be a reflective and creative space for imagining what we should eat. Through simple website technologies we redesign the recipe to afford users the opportunity of exploring what we should eat within the context of the wider agro-food system. The site provides a digital space for dialogic interactions between farmers, backyard growers, shoppers and foragers to rewrite the recipe to include information about the origins of a single ingredient. In connecting the labour of the field with the labour of the home and kitchen, this tool deliberately breaks down the false dichotomy of producer and consumer, and identifies all users as active producers within the food system, albeit within different contexts.