Doing actor-network theory: integrating network analysis with empirical philosophy in the study of research into genetically modified organisms in New Zealand

Abstract

This thesis provides a critical examination of the theoretical and methodological tools provided by Actor-Network Theory (ANT). It does so by applying ANT to the analysis of research into Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in New Zealand: first, in the case of a particular programme of GMO research; second, by considering the organisation and control of GMO research in more general terms. While ANT as a field of scholarship has grown substantially since its development in the 1980s, the early network analyses upon which it was originally founded still offer the most substantial methodological guidelines for researchers. The first case study presented in this thesis examines whether network methodologies can be used to study and represent a present-day environmental controversy: the development of genetically modified “tearless” onions in New Zealand. Rather than follow a single existing framework for analysis, however, it uses a network representation that combines elements taken from three different approaches. In doing so it provides an interpretation of the outcomes of the tearless onion research project, identifying how network instability ultimately leads to the overall failure of the project. It also provides practical methodological guidelines for other researchers who are using ANT to study present-day controversies. Following this initial focus on the networks associated with a particular GMO research project, this thesis considers how more recent ANT “sensibilities” can be used to complement and extend network analysis more broadly. Prominent ANT scholars have moved away from network studies in recent years, opting instead to focus on discussions of ontological complexity, casting ANT as a form of empirical philosophy. This can be problematic for researchers in fields such as environmental management, where studies are usually driven by a need to formulate recommendations on practical concerns, and matters of philosophical enquiry are rarely an end in themselves. While ANT in its earlier, network-focused, formulations is evident in the environmental management literature, applications of recent theoretical developments are less common. The second case study presented in this thesis uses recent framings of “the object” of ANT research to study and represent a present-day environmental controversy: the containment of GMO research in New Zealand. In doing so it provides an interpretation of the risk management practices that direct GMO research in New Zealand and uses this to make recommendations for change. On a theoretical level, this thesis both bridges the gap between different eras of ANT scholarship, and provides a practical application of ANT’s more esoteric forms of analysis.