Synthesizing Time Geography and Actor-Network Theory - An ontological discussion combining Time Geography and Actor-Network Theory concepts with regard to telepresence

Abstract

Geography of the 21th century requires a conceptual understanding of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and their impact on society. Some geographers previously treated them as anomalies or succumbing to techno-deterministic predictions and undermining the raison d'être of geography, the importance of distance. The supposedly death of distance represents such a techno-deterministic prediction. Nevertheless geographical inquiry retains importance in a modern society dominated by ICT, but the precursors for what distance entails changed. Especially conceptualizing telepresence prompts new challenges for geographical understanding; telepresence represents an individual’s effect on one or several distant geographical locations with or without time delay. Actor-Network Theory (ANT) conceptualizes the impact of technological systems, claiming this process requires detailed knowledge of technology itself. Several geographic scholars suggested that combing geographical inquiry, Time Geography in particular, with ANT might yield a fruitful approach comprehending modern day ICT implementations and their consequences. Time Geography benefits in this combination among others from ANT’s relative concept of space. This study continuous from the assumption that both frameworks are potentially combinable thereby investigating the possible problems and benefits of such a combination. This investigation examines three empirical cases to extend the theoretical discussion empirically. The three empirical cases represent studies employing Time Geography to explore the impacts of ICT. The investigation departs from the material turn’s assumption emphasizing the importance of material presentation. A content analysis inspired approach analyzes the three studies for their description of telepresence involved in ICT utilization, inspired because one text yielded two summarizations that represented the basis for the comparison. One Time Geography summarization explicitly used in the text and one ANT summarization interpreted by the author, these two represented the basis for the analysis. The comparison concluded that a combination of both approaches represents a fruitful enterprise in accordance with the previous literature. The authors of the three texts used several concepts; like social capital or social network analysis, to extend Time Geography and enable comprehension of ICT. These concepts directly related to alliance building and topological networks inside ANT. Thereby a potential combination incorporates useful concepts, expressed in similar ontological fashion. In addition a combination of Time Geography with ANT may represent a quid pro quo for both approaches. One particular example pointed to a possibility of appreciating particular uniqueness of space while retaining relative network topology by applying a dual presentation style. This entails a potential solution for ANT’s lack of appreciation of particular space. Departing from knowledge gained during the theoretical discussion and the analysis the study continues building synthesized concepts drawing from both approaches. The discussion encourages the combination of Time Geography and ANT into a symbiotic new framework utilizing the new synthesized concepts proposed here. Such a unified framework applied to empirical examples of actual ICT implementation and their consequences may yield great insights into the functioning of modern society and ICT.