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The Non-Corporeal Actant As a Link Between Actor-Network Theory and Critical Sensemaking: a Case Study of Air Canada

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The Non-Corporeal Actant As a Link Between Actor-Network Theory and Critical Sensemaking: a Case Study of Air Canada The Non-Corporeal Actant as a Link between Actor-Network Theory and Critical Sensemaking: A Case Study of Air Canada By Christopher M. Hartt A Thesis Submitted to Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration March, 2013, Halifax, Nova Scotia Copyright Christopher M. Hartt, 2013 Approved: Dr. Jean Helms Mills Supervisor Approved: Dr. Bill Cooke Examiner Approved: Dr. Albert J. Mills Reader Approved: Dr. Amy Thurlow Reader Approved: Dr. Gabrielle Durepos Reader Date: March 14, 2013 The Non-Corporeal Actant Abstract The Non-Corporeal Actant as a Link between Actor-Network Theory and Critical Sensemaking: A Case Study of Air Canada By Christopher M. Hartt This thesis explores the relationship between the choices made by individuals and the influences of the groups to which those individuals belong. To interrogate the nature of groups, the thesis employs ideas from actor-network theory. In the investigation of individuals and their choices, work from critical sensemaking theory is applied. The theoretical contribution of the thesis is the bringing together of these two significant areas of research. The second theoretical contribution is the development of a connecting link between critical sensemaking and actor-network theory described herein as the non- corporeal actant. This newly described form of actant seems to be a plausible means of crossing the gap between the nature of groups from actor-network theory and the choices of individuals as described by critical sensemaking. The work which produced these plausible linkages was a study of one significant event in the history of Air Canada. The case material centres on the appointment of the new CEO for the organization in 1968. An ANTi-History approach was used to follow the actors around in three distinct, but interrelated, networks: Air Canada management; the Federal Government; and the employees. The histories written about these three groups covering the period seem to adopt three very different perspectives on the CEO appointment. By following a series of moves (research steps), both the nature of the groups and the chroniclers’ sensemaking are surfaced. In turn, these moves appear to demonstrate powerful influence from the non-corporeal actants on the choices made by the authors of the histories. Submitted: March 14, 2013 2 The Non-Corporeal Actant Acknowledgements Central to my success has been my wife, Gretchen Pohlkamp. Gretchen not only put up with my irascible behaviour but she also read commented on and corrected me with every draft of this dissertation. My family, my sons, Joshua and Noah Pohlkamp- Hartt, my siblings and my nieces and nephews have also been great moral support. The questions of “When are you going to be done?” were motivators in those tought days. Jean Helms Mills has been with me every step to the thesis researching, writing and defense process, I owe her much for all the help. The other members of my committee have also been magnanimous in their assistance with the ideas and execution of this work. The other students and alumni of the Sobey PhD program have also been there for me, provided me with feedback and much needed challenge and support over these years. The cooperative nature of the students in this program has been wonderful. I would like to mention my late parents, Leo and Kay Hartt. My dad taught us the value of formal education, he continued his into his 50’s. I hope my children will inherit this constant search for knowledge. My mom was very supportive of my education and also committed to the development of the mind. I was blessed to have her with me for the first few years of the PhD. Both my parents act as NCAs in my continued pursuit of knowledge. 3 The Non-Corporeal Actant Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................... 2 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................ 3 Contents .......................................................................................................... 4 Cast of Characters and Groups .................................................................. 10 The Essential Narrative - A Change at the Top of Air Canada .............. 13 Chapter One – Introduction ....................................................................... 15 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 15 1: Enactors, enactments and sites of production ................................................... 17 2: Networks in the past and present ....................................................................... 18 Theoretical Perspectives .................................................................................................... 19 1: Sensemaking and critical sensemaking .............................................................. 19 2: Actor-network theory and ANTi-History .......................................................... 23 Towards the Idea of the Non-Corporeal Actant: Fusions of ANT and CSM .................... 25 The non-corporeal actant and its discursive role .................................................. 28 Air Canada: A Case Study of Network Persistence, Sensemaking and the Past ............... 31 The Thesis in Summary ..................................................................................................... 34 Chapter Two – Actor-Network Theory ..................................................... 35 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 35 Actor-Network Theory ....................................................................................................... 37 An Outline of Actor-Network Theory Terms .................................................................... 40 1: Networks, action-nets and worknets ................................................................. 42 2: Actors, actants, traces ......................................................................................... 44 3: Punctualization and multiplicity ........................................................................ 47 4: Inscriptions .......................................................................................................... 49 5: Oscillation ............................................................................................................ 50 6: Recruitment, enroll, de-enroll, and translation ................................................ 51 7: Mobilization, interessement ............................................................................... 53 8: Mediators, intermediaries .................................................................................. 55 9: Clamps .................................................................................................................. 56 10: The oligopticon ................................................................................................... 58 11: The social ............................................................................................................. 60 Central Developments in the ‘ANT and After’ Literature ................................................. 62 ANT and Science ............................................................................................................... 63 4 The Non-Corporeal Actant Arduous Review of Empirical Material ............................................................................. 67 History as Controversy ...................................................................................................... 69 Case Analysis in Actor-Network Theory ........................................................................... 70 Discourse Versus Knowledge ............................................................................................ 72 The Social Process in Causation ........................................................................................ 73 The Role of Discourse ....................................................................................................... 74 Power and Persistence ........................................................................................................ 76 Production of Knowledge .................................................................................................. 77 Summary ............................................................................................................................ 80 Chapter Three – Critical Sensemaking ..................................................... 84 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 84 The Framework of Sensemaking Theory ........................................................................... 88 1. Grounded in identity construction ..................................................................... 89 2. Retrospective ........................................................................................................ 90 3. Focused on and by extracted cues ...................................................................... 90 4. Driven by plausibility rather than accuracy ..................................................... 91 5. Enactive of the environment ..............................................................................
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