The Sociotechnical Alliance of Argentine Quality Wine: How Mendoza's Viticulture Functions Between the Local and the Global

Constructivist research in Science and Technology Studies (STS) is committed to revealing the heterogeneity of technological change and the fluid boundaries between the elements involved. Its major theories, the Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) and Actor Network Theory (ANT), have however bo...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science, technology, & human values technology, & human values, 2012-11, Vol.37 (6), p.627-652
Main Authors: Pont, Polly C. A. Maclaine, Thomas, Hernán
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alliances
Argentina
Berries
Constructivism
Earth sciences
Governance
History of science and technology
History of technology
Horticulture
Human action
Otherness
Politics
Power
Social groups
Social interaction
Social research
Structural analysis
Technological change
Technology
Valuation
Vineyards
Viticulture
Wine making
Wineries
Wineries & vineyards
Wines
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Constructivist research in Science and Technology Studies (STS) is committed to revealing the heterogeneity of technological change and the fluid boundaries between the elements involved. Its major theories, the Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) and Actor Network Theory (ANT), have however both been criticized for limiting themselves to the micro-level of cases, impeding a structural analysis of technological systems. This article seeks to bridge any such divides. We research the recent changes in the viticulture of Mendoza, Argentina, which underwent radical changes over the past decades: once governed by low-cost yield maximization, grape production now revolves around "quality." To show how the particular quality definition developed, we depart from a social-constructivist framework, following the sociotechnical shaping of problem-solution relationships across the wine production system. To include relevant social groups from different settings around the world, we gradually incorporate the ANT concepts of obligatory passage points, enrollment, convergence, delegation, and codes into the analysis. Combined into the concept of "sociotechnical alliance," our analysis follows the dual process of creating agreement while establishing heterogeneous practices across settings at different levels. It shows that functioning involves alliance building and highlights the hybridity and continuous dynamics of systems at large.
ISSN:0162-2439
1552-8251
DOI:10.1177/0162243911428623