ANTHEM

About

The ANTHEM blog is the public face of ANTHEM, the “Actor-Network Theory — Heidegger Meeting,” a gathering of human and nonhuman actors that are interested in both actor-network theory and the work of Martin Heidegger, as well as the relationship and controversies between the two. Our primary focus is the question of technology. We are interested not only in the philosophy of technology but also in the empirical issues pertaining to the social study of technology.

We are intrigued by Graham Harman’s object-oriented philosophy as a possible bridge between actor-network-theory and Heideggerian phenomenology. We are also interested in other related areas such as postphenomenology, science studies, science and technology studies (STS), the sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK), economic sociology and organisation theory.

ANTHEM started out as an informal weekly reading group of research students in the Information Systems and Innovation Group of the Department of Management at the London School of Economics and Political Science on 20 November 2006. Its founding members were Peter Erdélyi and Aleksi Aaltonen, who were later joined by Ofer Engel and Wifak Houij Gueddana to form the ANTHEM steering committee. ANTHEM operates a lively Google Group which has enabled researchers from other parts of the world to participate in the discussions. Readings so far have mainly alternated between key texts of Bruno Latour and Martin Heidegger. The sessions are recorded and also posted on this site, with the aim of encouraging debate along the phenomenology-ANT axis.

***********************************************

anthem - noun:

1. a psalm or hymn sung antiphonally or responsively

2. a song or hymn of praise or gladness

3. a usually rousing popular song that typifies or is identified with a particular subculture, movement, or point of view

(Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary)

***********************************************