Infrastructure, Boundary Objects and the Problem of Symbolic Values

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  • インフラストラクチャー／バウンダリーオブジェクトにおける象徴的価値の問題
  • インフラストラクチャー/バウンダリーオブジェクトにおける象徴的価値の問題 : インドネシアにおける廃棄物堆肥化技術をめぐって
  • インフラストラクチャー/バウンダリーオブジェクト ニ オケル ショウチョウテキ カチ ノ モンダイ : インドネシア ニ オケル ハイキブツ タイヒカ ギジュツ オ メグッテ
  • インドネシアにおける廃棄物堆肥化技術をめぐって

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Abstract

<p>This paper discusses conflicts between two technological modes— infrastructure and boundary objects— and their symbolic values, through an analysis of a new technology for composting organic waste. The technology was invented by a Japanese engineer participating in a project for international cooperation that was conducted by a local government from Japan in Surabaya City, located in east Java in Indonesia. In recent years, the concept of infrastructure has attracted many sociocultural anthropologists working in the field of non-Western technological systems, including roads, water supply, sewers, and electricity. The anthropological usage of the word "infrastructure," however, is so ambiguous that it has come to mean a variety of things since first appearing in the United States in the 1980's. This paper particularly focuses on Susan Leigh Star's discussions of infrastructure.</p> <p>Star (1954-2010) argued that infrastructure is a fundamentally relational concept that becomes real infrastructure in relation to organized practices. Thus, she said, we should not ask "what" infrastructure is but "when" it is. Through the study of a database system for worm biologists, she defined infrastructure as having several properties, indicating the direct influence she received from the theories of the communities of practice and symbolic interactionism. Her most famous concept—"boundary objects"—was also influenced by both theories, so she conceptualized infrastructure as a standardized boundary object, generated from cooperative networking, without the consensus of the actors. This paper, however, argues that there is quite a difference between those modes of existence of technology. Star conceptualized that infrastructure as a certain type of boundary object, but simultaneously introduced the assumption that the cooperative network automatically endures for a long time. Hence, her concept needs to be re-analyzed critically. The analysis of a kind of waste-management technology known as "T composting" suggests a difference between the two modes.</p> <p>(View PDF for the rest of the abstract.)</p>

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