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This paper shows that assemblage thinking and actor-network theory (ANT) have much more to gain from each other than debate has so far conceded. Exploring the conjunctions and disjunctions between the two approaches, it proposes three cross-fertilisations that have implications for understanding three key processes in our sociomaterial world: stabilisation, change and affect. First, the conceptual vocabulary of ANT can enrich assemblage thinking with an explicitly spatial account of the ways in which assemblages are drawn together, reach across space and are stabilised. Second, each approach is better attuned to conceptualising a particular kind of change in sociomaterial relations: ANT describes change without rupture, or fluidity, whereas assemblage thinking describes change with rupture, or events. Third and last, assemblage thinking could fashion ANT with a greater sensitivity for the productive role of affect in bringing socio-material relations into being through the production of desire/wish (désir). We demonstrate the implications of these cross-fertilisations for empirical work through a case study of the global market for assisted reproduction.

\"Bruno Latour stirs things up. Latour began as a lover of science and technology, co-founder of actor-network theory, and philosopher of a modernity that had \"never been modern.\" In the meantime he is regarded not just as one of the most intelligent and also popular exponents of science studies but also as a major innovator of the social sciences, an exemplary wanderer who walks the line between the sciences and the humanities. This book provides the first comprehensive overview of the Latourian oeuvre, from his early anthropological studies in Abidjan (Ivory Coast), to influential books like Laboratory Life and Science in Action, and his most recent reflections on an empirical metaphysics of \"modes of existence.\" In the course of this enquiry it becomes clear that the basic problem to which Latour's work responds is that of social tradition, the transmission of experience and knowledge. What this empirical philosopher constantly grapples with is the complex relationship of knowledge, time, and culture\"-- Provided by publisher.

While visual communication is crucial in urban planning, there is a gap in understanding how dominant narratives and visuals affect professional planning practice and planners’ roles, particularly in mediatized urban environments. This study addresses this gap by examining street billboards in Cairo to understand how planning visualizations contribute to the restructuring of the planning profession. It explores how these visual tools shape the practice and roles of urban planners, who are increasingly becoming visualizers. Employing actor-network theory, the study traces the relationships between billboards, planners, and other network actors. The primary research question is: How and why does the use of planning visualizations (billboards) restructure the profession of planning, including planning practice and the roles of planners? Utilizing a qualitative exploratory methodology, the study focuses on billboards along Cairo’s 6th of October Bridge. Data were analyzed through visual and content analysis of 209 billboards to understand their language, content, patterns, and geo-positioning. The analysis revealed that billboards in Cairo significantly impact urban landscapes and the visual culture of urbanization, often promoting exclusive real estate projects to a socio-economic elite. The research highlights the dilemmas in the changing professional roles of planners within a mediatized world and underscores the need for more inclusive planning practices. By employing actor-network theory, the study provides a nuanced understanding of the complex relationships that shape and are shaped by the visual culture of urban planning, offering insights into how planners can navigate and influence these dynamics for more equitable urban development.

\"When the Anglo-American theatre manager and actor, Maurice E. Bandmann, died of enteric fever at the Colonial Hospital in Gibraltar on 9 March 1922 shortly before his fiftieth birthday, the event was reported across the English-speaking world from Madras to Singapore, and from Cairo to Hong Kong, with many newspapers carrying lengthy obituaries: The Times of India called him 'the pioneer of musical comedy in this part of the world' having 'brought to the East some forty or fifty companies. The Straits Times in Singapore claimed that 'he inaugurated the system that will remain as a monument to his memory in theatrical circles. The Era, London's theatrical trade paper, emphasized 'the fine plays and well-equipped companies he presented (which) became famous in all parts of the world, many stars appearing under his management, and the Bandman Opera Company, with all the latest musical comedy successes, was exceedingly popular everywhere in the East. As these statements indicate, Maurice Bandmann was at the time considered a key figure in what will be called in this book, the globalization of theatre. For over two decades, Bandmann was a household name in the theatre world of the time, a guarantor of quality itinerant theatrical entertainment, especially of musical comedy performed by the legendary Bandmann Opera Company. The Bandmann Circuit, as it was known, extended from Gibraltar to Tokyo and included more than two dozen towns and cities, across the Asian continent as well as occasional forays across to the West Indies and even South America. In terms of sheer reach and territory covered, Bandmann was a global theatrical entrepreneur, who, while certainly concentrating on English-speaking settlements also performed regularly in Japan to Japanese audiences, before Chinese in Shanghai and Peking and numerous cities where audiences were linguistically mixed\"-- Provided by publisher.

Actor-Network Theory (ANT) has enjoyed wide uptake in the social sciences in the past three decades, particularly in science and technology studies, and is increasingly attracting the attention of educational researchers. ANT studies bring to the fore the material – objects of all kinds – and de-centre the human and the social in educational issues. ANT sensibilities are interested in the ways human and non-human elements become interwoven. Since its first introduction, actor-network theory has undergone significant shifts and evolutions and as a result, it is not considered to be a single or coherent theoretical domain, but as developing diversely in response to various challenges. This book offers an introduction to Actor-Network Theory for educators to consider in three ways. One mode is the introduction of concepts, approaches and debates around Actor-Network Theory as a research approach in education. A second mode showcases educational studies that have employed ANT approaches in classrooms, workplaces and community settings, drawn from the UK, USA, Canada, Europe and Australia. These demonstrate how ANT can operate in highly diverse ways whether it focuses on policy critique, curriculum inquiry, engagements with digital media, change and innovation, issues of accountability, or exploring how knowledge unfolds and becomes materialized in various settings. A third mode looks at recent 'after-ANT' inquiries which open an array of important new approaches. Across these diverse environments and uptakes, the authors trace how learning and practice emerge, show what scales are at play, and demonstrate what this means for educational possibilities. Tara Fenwick is Professor of Professional Education at the University of Stirling, UK. Her research focuses on knowledge and education in workplace and professional practices, for which she won the Houle Award for Outstanding Contribution to Adult Education Literature, awarded by the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education. Richard Edwards is Professor of Education at the University of Stirling, UK. He has researched and written extensively on post-compulsory education and lifelong learning and has an international reputation in the field. 1. A Way to Intervene, Not a Theory of What to Think 2. Knowledge, Innovation and Knowing in Practice 3. (De)naturalizing Teaching and Learning 4. (En)tangling Curriculum-making 5. (Net)working Technologized Learning 6. (Un)making Standards in Education 7. Educational Reform and Planned Change 8. (Ac)counting for Education 9. (De)centring Educational Policy 10. Messy Research 11. Translating ANT in Education

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to investigate how human resource professionals (HRPs), in a variety of organizations, responded to the crisis brought about by the event of COVID-19. In particular, it aims to show how organizations, across all sectors, in Western Australia responded with urgency and flexibility to the crisis and showed “resilience in practice”.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on 136 questionnaire responses, 32 interviews and 25 managerial narratives. The mixed qualitative methodology was designed to enable an investigation of the impact of COVID-19 and the response of HRPs.FindingsHRPs have responded with agility and flexibility to the impact of COVID-19. They have done so through extensive trial and error, sometimes succeeding, sometimes failing. They have not simply activated a preconceived continuity plan.Research limitations/implicationsThe research indicates that resilience is an ongoing accomplishment of organizations and the people in them. The objective was description rather than prescription, and the research does not offer solutions to future pandemic-like situations.Practical implicationsThe research suggests that, given the impact of COVID-19 on organizations, HR practices, processes and policies will need to be thoroughly reconsidered for relevance in the post-COVID world. Possible future directions are highlighted.Originality/valueThe research considers the actions of HRPs as they responded to a global crisis as the crisis unfolded.

While cross-sectoral partnerships are frequently presented as a way to achieve sustainable development, some corporations that first tried using the strategy are now changing direction. Growing tired of what are, in their eyes, inefficient and unproductive cross-sectoral partnerships, firms are starting to form post-cross-sectoral partnerships ('post-partnerships') open exclusively to corporations. This paper examines one such post-partnership project, the Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI), to analyse the possibility of post-partnerships establishing stable definitions of 'corporate responsibility'. We do this by creating a theoretical framework based on actor-network theory (ANT) and institutional theory. Using this framework, we show that post-partnerships suffer from the paradox of striving to marginalise those stakeholders whose support they need for establishing stable definitions of 'corporate responsibility'. We conclude by discussing whether or not post-partnership strategies, despite this paradox, can be expected to establish stable definitions of 'corporate responsibility'.

PurposeCorporate reporting infrastructure and communication are being transformed by the emergence of digital technologies. A key element of the digital accounting infrastructure underpinning international corporate reporting is the IFRS Taxonomy, a digital representation of international accounting standards that is required by firms to produce digital corporate reports. The purpose of this paper is to trace the development, governance and adoption of the IFRS Taxonomy to highlight the implications for accounting practice and standard-setting.Design/methodology/approachThe authors mobilise Actor Network Theory and a model of transnational standardisation to analyse the process surrounding the formation and diffusion of the IFRS Taxonomy as a legitimate “reference” of the IFRS Standards. The authors trace the process using interview, observation and documentary evidence.FindingsThe analysis shows that while the taxonomy enables IFRS-based reporting in the digital age, tensions and detours result in the need for a realignment of the perspectives of both accounting standard-setters and taxonomy developers that have transformative implications for accounting practice and standard-setting.Originality/valueThe study explains how and why existing accounting standards are transformed by technology inscriptions with reflexive effects on the formation and diffusion of accounting standards. In doing so, the paper highlights the implications that arise as accounting practice adapts to the digitalisation of corporate reporting.

PurposeThis research aims to examine and understand the rationales and modalities behind the use of disclosure before, during and after a corporate governance scandal involving CPA Australia (CPAA).Design/methodology/approachData beyond CPAA's annual reports were collected, such as news articles, media releases, an independent review panel (IRP) report, and the Chief Operating Officer's letter to members. These disclosures were manually coded and analysed through the word counts and word trees in NVivo. This study also relied on Norbert Elias' conceptual tool of power games among networks of actors – figurations – to model the scandal as a power game between the old Board, the press, concerned members, the IRP and the new Board. This study analysed the data to reveal a collective and in fieri power balance that changed with the phases of the scandal.FindingsA mix of voluntary, involuntary, requested and absent disclosures was important in triggering, managing and ending the CPAA scandal. Moreover, communication and disclosure fulfilled a constitutive role since both: mobilised actors, enabled coordination among actors, contributed to pursuing shared goals and influenced power balances. Such a constitutive role was at the heart of the ability of coalitions of figurations to challenge and restore the powerful status quo.Originality/value This research introduces to accounting studies the collective and in fieri dimensions of power from figurational theory. Moreover, the research sheds new light on using voluntary, involuntary, requested and absent disclosures before, during and after a corporate crisis.