Heterogeneity between simplification and complexity: Actor-Network Theory and a new epistemology for organizational studies

Abstract This article discusses and reflects on the relevance of considering mediation as focus of analysis of heterogeneity in the Actor Network Theory (ANT) when it comes to organizational studies, comparing it with two paradigmatic perspectives much discussed today - simplification and complexity. Therefore, it initially deals with the modern paradigm crisis, showing the transition of this paradigm to the paradigm of complexity and places organizational studies in this new paradigm. Then, the study synthetically shows the historical path of heterogeneity, and then shows how this is conceptualized in ANT as an epistemological possibility to organizational studies. Finally, it highlights some considerations about mediation as focus of analysis of heterogeneity in ANT. The main argument is that from the heterogeneous analysis of the social, natural and technological factors interrelated in what ANT calls “actors networks”, it is possible to overcome, in organizational studies, the circularity in which the modern paradigms of simplification and complexity are inserted. This is because the heterogeneity, the way proposed in the context of simplification and complexity, consists mainly of static conceptions of reality and ANT, heterogeneity is primarily relational, it is the flow of collectives and the ways they behave, whether they are performing simple, complex, ordered or fluid activities. From these reflections, the article is based, epistemologically, on the heterogeneity assumptions of ANT as a lens of analysis relevant to understanding the organizational phenomena.

摘要 本文围绕组织研究领域，探讨并反思了将中介性作为行动者网络理论（Actor Network Theory，ANT）异质性分析核心的合理性，并将其与当下广受热议的两大范式视角——简化论范式与复杂论范式进行对比。为此，本文首先剖析现代范式危机，阐明该范式向复杂论范式的转型脉络，并将组织研究纳入这一新范式框架之中。继而，本文综合梳理了异质性研究的历史演进路径，并阐释了行动者网络理论如何将异质性概念化为组织研究的一种认识论可行路径。最后，本文重点探讨了将中介性作为行动者网络理论中异质性分析核心的相关议题。本文核心论点在于：在行动者网络理论所界定的"行动者网络"范畴内，对相互关联的社会、自然与技术要素开展异质性分析，可助力组织研究突破简化论与复杂论范式所陷入的循环困境。究其缘由，简化论与复杂论范式下的异质性主要依托静态的现实认知，而行动者网络理论中的异质性则本质上具备关系性属性——它指向行动集体的流动过程及其行为模式，无论这些行为表现为简单、复杂、有序抑或是动态流变的活动。基于上述反思，本文在认识论层面以行动者网络理论的异质性假设为分析透镜，将其作为理解组织现象的有效研究视角。