The agency of hybrids: overcoming the symmetrophobic block

We respond to ‘challenge 3’ presented in Rose, Jones and Truex’s excellent polemic by way of elucidating the meanings of hybrids, actants, agency and symmetry in Actor-Network Theory. We provide a (very brief) account of Latour’s project to unravel the modernist epistemological settlement that separates humans and non-humans in the world, and that alas so often results in errors and confusions. We contend that the framing of the challenge itself implies the very distinctions that ANT seeks to reject (namely the dichotomization of the world into mutually exclusive ‘subject’ and ‘object’ divisions). Following Latour, we argue that such pure forms do not exist—and furthermore that ‘agency’ is the property of complex hybrids comprised of various strands of human and non-human materials and abstract elements. This is the true meaning of the principle of symmetry! We conclude with some counter-challenges of our own

On the Role of Attention in Binocular Rivalry: Electrophysiological Evidence

During binocular rivalry visual consciousness fluctuates between two dissimilar monocular images. We investigated the role of attention in this phenomenon by comparing event-related potentials (ERPs) when binocular-rivalry stimuli were attended with when they were unattended. Stimuli were dichoptic, orthogonal gratings that yielded binocular rivalry and dioptic, identically oriented gratings that yielded binocular fusion. Events were all possible orthogonal changes in orientation of one or both gratings. We had two attention conditions: In the attend-to-grating condition, participants had to report changes in perceived orientation, focussing their attention on the gratings. In the attend-to-fixation condition participants had to report changes in a central fixation target, taking attention away from the gratings. We found, surprisingly, that attending to rival gratings yielded a smaller ERP component (the N1, from 160–210 ms) than attending to the fixation target. To explain this paradoxical effect of attention, we propose that rivalry occurs in the attend-to-fixation condition (we found an ERP signature of rivalry in the form of a sustained negativity from 210–300 ms) but that the mechanism processing the stimulus changes is more adapted in the attend-to-grating condition than in the attend-to-fixation condition. This is consistent with the theory that adaptation gives rise to changes of visual consciousness during binocular rivalry

Diffusion - or delusion? Challenging an IS research tradition

This paper seeks to critique the notion of diffusionism. Design/methodology/approach – The notion of diffusionism provides a general way of understanding innovation and human progress. It is pervasive within IS research and practice. Generically, diffusionism denotes an asymmetrical view of innovation as originating exclusively in “progressive” centres, from which it spreads through an essentially passive recipient community. This model is pernicious, as it privileges an elite few over the majority, with the innovator/imitator dichotomy presented as natural, moral and inevitable. This paper analyses the notion of diffusionism in information systems (IS). Findings – The failure to find any empirical support for diffusionism reveals both its mythical character and its ideological rationale in lending moral legitimacy to colonialistic projects. Empirical examples demonstrate both the ubiquity of the diffusionist mindset in IS research and practice, and its linkage to pseudo-colonial activities in the home domain. Originality/value – The paper concludes by arguing for a more critical approach within IS research on innovation, the use of richer, process-based theories, and greater partnership with practitioners in order to close the research/practice gap

The rise of the phoenix : methodological innovation as a discourse of renewal

Every 500 years (or 540, 1000, 1461, even 12,994, depending on the cultural context!), the legendary and beautifully plumaged Phoenix1 self-cremates in its nest of cinnamon twigs, rising again to embalm its predecessor in an egg of myrrh. Something of a Jungian archetype, the Phoenix symbolizes the universal cycle of birth, death and re-birth, figuring widely in religious and secular imagery, and in classical and popular culture. Renewal is the theme of this paper, but in the more mundane context of organizational resilience. Resilience is a cosmopolitan idea, encountered in many disparate domains, ranging from ecological policy (e.g. Folke et al., 2002) to child welfare (Newman and Blackburn, 2002). Although its definition is elusive (Cho et al., 2006) and its utility contested (even in seemingly well-entrenched terrain),2 the concept has gained recent prominence in the management literature, especially among the enthusiasts of ‘positive psychology’ (Luthans, 2002). Its proselytizers see resilience as an organizational capacity that can be designed and fostered as a protective shield against the apocalyptic turbulence and uncertainty of the contemporary business environment (Mallik, 1998; Hamel and Välikangas, 2003; Sheffi, 2005). Resilience is ‘the key skill for surviving in the multitude of changes as we move into the digital economy … [leaders] must cultivate the resilience of the workforce and create appropriate systems. If an organization does not create new strategies and systems that enhance organizational resilience, it will not adapt’ (Pulley, 1997)