Controversies as method for ANTi-history: An inquiry into public administration practices

Drawing on Actor-Network Theory and the cartography of controversies, we present a method for ANTi-History research to investigate the implementation of a contract between a labour services company and a public university hospital in Brazil. The research question focuses on how the past is enacted i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Organization (London, England) England), 2021-11, Vol.28 (6), p.1018-1035
Main Authors: Tureta, César, Américo, Bruno Luiz, Clegg, Stewart
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Actor-network theory
Cartography
History
Mapping
Politics
Power
Public administration
Translation
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Summary:Drawing on Actor-Network Theory and the cartography of controversies, we present a method for ANTi-History research to investigate the implementation of a contract between a labour services company and a public university hospital in Brazil. The research question focuses on how the past is enacted in the present. The method is a general guideline based on five focal points used to organize the fieldwork: identifying controversies; mapping the actor-network; drawing out the translation process; politics of actor-networks and multiple reality/power relations. The proposed method makes two contributions to ANTi-History literature. First, although these focal points have been discussed by ANTi-History scholars, they are scattered throughout the literature. We unite them to offer a guide to doing historically embedded research. Second, we show how controversy analysis can be helpful for mapping the politics of actor-networks and describing multiple realities in the construction of history.
ISSN:1350-5084
1461-7323
DOI:10.1177/13505084211015375