Heuristic Potential of the Actor-Network Theory in the Study of Hierarchical Social Relations and Structures

Abstract

The article deals with the study of the role and place of things in the processes of symbolic violence in (post)modern society. It provides a critical review of the heuristic potential of the actor-network approach for the researches on the above topic. There is the analysis of the main provisions and principles of the concepts of B. Latura and J. Lo, and the analysis of applicability for the study of hierarchical social relations. The criticism of the actor-network approach by foreign and domestic authors is given, as well as attempts of interpretations of this theory in various theoretical and methodological directions. We propose an author's theoretical and methodological scheme, built on the synthesis of the actor-network theory and constructivist structuralism. The concepts of the network and field, the frame and position, link and disposition are compared, for the universalization of poststructuralist methodology in the study of material objects in social interactions.