The translation theory

Developed as part of the innovation sociology of Bruno Latour and Michel CALLON, this theory provides an approach based on the way links and cooperation are built that helps to shed light on organisations, especially organisational change situations, in terms of heterogeneous networks and hybrid and distributed collectives. According to this theory, the action organised is either that of a network, or is linked to the construction, stabilisation and extension of a network.

A network is a set of entities, which may be human (individuals, groups, organisations, etc.), or non-human (machines, texts, small objects, etc.), all interlinked with each other. It is therefore not a question of simply seeing the socio-technical network as either an information system or a social system. On the contrary, it is a question of performing a detailed analysis of the links between human beings, machines, texts, etc. The notion of network is more open than that of system; it can also be used to study the dynamics passing through and going beyond organisations.

Moreover, there is no pre-set list of entities associated with networks and their characteristics: these entities are mutually defined within the network. By taking into account "non-human" aspects (notably the "intermediary objects" conceptualised by Dominique VlNCK and Alain Jeantet), the devices, the objects that change hands and the equipment used by actors can also be considered.

As the network is founded, the relationship between entities is analysed as a translation. This supposes that associated entities are displaced and transformed. Connecting two entities involves transforming them. Their redefinition is part of what is called problematisation, e.g. the fictive and potential re-qualification of the entity to be connected. For the translation to actually occur, the entity has to be partially disassociated from its former attachments in order to enter into a new set of relations. The new link can only be successfully set up if the entity actually agrees to take on its new role. This is when the translation relation comes into being. Its construction and maintenance are the result of substantial investments in terms of redefinition, interessement, mutual displacement and fixing. The increasingly closer linking of a series of translation relations leads to the setting up of relatively extensive and stable equivalence chains and socio-technical networks. Reporting on the organisation, on change and on innovation therefore consists in describing the dynamics behind the construction, maintenance, extension and transformation of the networks in question. The construction of an organisation, of an information system or of socio-technical or organisational innovation therefore relies on the construction of such socio-technical networks and, therefore, on a heterogeneous engineering activity (Law, 1987).

Tanslation (Callon, 1986) is a general process during which a social and natural world is gradually shaped and stabilised. Translation covers several overlapping dimensions: problematisation, interessement, enrolment and mobilisation of allies. It is the basic mechanism behind the setting up of the relationships that form the networks. In this way, translation has become a new fundamental notion of sociology.

Problematisation

When scientists and engineers started research and development projects on fuel cells in the 70's, they began by producing texts and discourses in which they plotted borders between what is a problem and what is not, between technical issues and economic problems, between what comes from one organisation and what comes from another. They posed a set of realities, considering these to be unquestionable, and pinpointed problems remaining to be solved. They isolated the different issues and established links between them, as well as between different dimensions of the project they were putting forward. This process of constructing a reality using texts is, at the same time, a process for deconstructing a different reality, the destruction of former relations and the newly proposed distribution. In this way, scientists and engineers can build up a new world, made of words and arguments. They define and put forward new entities and relationships. They build up a new conception of reality (for the case in hand, a new definition of the state of knowledge and transport problems as well as the definition of a new socio-technical world for the future): they put forward a problematisation. They also

attempt to impose this definition of reality, using arguments and an authoritative text. They struggle to impose a new definition of'socio-technical reality.

In this problematisation, the actors operate a translation between separate registers. They link up separate areas of activity and propose a transfer channel. For example, they translate and link up the issue of the "energy crisis" with that of the "electric vehicle", the "fuel cell" and "electrochemistry". It thus becomes possible to connect highly heterogeneous elements: political programmes can be linked to theoretical debates; laboratory entities (electrodes) can be associated with macro-entities (France and the evolution of society, climate change, etc.). Such associations between heterogeneous elements can be seen in innovative projects. They help redefine society, organisations (redefinition of their role and abilities, for example) and technology.

Date: 2016-03-03; view: 692