Actor-network theory as a method for evaluating the energy sectors

Abstract

The objective of this article was to evaluate the current utilization of the Actor-Network Theory (ANT) as a research method in the energy sector. High impact scientific articles gathered from the ScienceDirect database were analyzed, taking into account the methodological research particularities (in terms of its nature, objective, issue approach, and technical procedures) and the means of data collection and analysis in the light of the ANT method. Few pieces of research in the energy sector were found utilizing ANT as an analysis method. A pattern for the methodological characterization was identified, in which most of the articles approached ANT as a diagnostic, exploratory, qualitative, and analytical method for case studies. Since most of the papers aimed mainly at the reconstruction of past events, data collection was characterized mainly by searching for documents and, whenever possible, by contacting the players who participated in the reconstructed history. The analysis, though, aimed at identifying the participants and the dynamics of their interactions. The ANT method presents immense potential for research in the energy sector since energy systems evolve throughout complex networks, inseverable from environmental, technological, and social, including those of political and economic nature. Still, as yet, in a continually growing development scenario, ANT's utilization may contribute to understanding how these networks evolve and who plays the most crucial role in it.