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Accepted Paper:
From non-humans to humans and back: Redistribution of morality by Marshrutka Door (The case of Volgograd, Russia)
Andrey Kuznetsov
(Volgograd State University)
Denis Sivkov
(RANEPA, Volgograd branch)
Paper long abstract:
"Where the missing masses of our societies are located?" Bruno Latour asked once. If the answer is "in non-humans" then we are confronted with one of the biggest misunderstanding of ANT. Such an answer incite us to conceive ANT as a "sociology of material objects" and to think in "either/or" logic: either it is the humans (or produced by them meanings) that are the most stable and reliable link in chain or it is tamed non-humans that are bulletproof part of sociotechnical assemblage. We suggest that the crucial point of ANT is that missing masses are not in non-humans (or material objects) themselves but in the whole chain of translations from humans to non-humans through signs/symbols and back. So delegation could be made in both directions.
We will show this through the case of opening/closing of marshrutka doors. By marshrutka we mean a type of urban mobility (fixed-route taxi) performed by a certain type of mini-vans (Gazelle). Unlike doors of traditional urban public transport marshrutka doors are opened/closed by passengers themselves. Some work necessary for conveyance was delegated back from non-humans to humans but we can't say unambiguously that this sociotechnical assemblage become less stable. Rather morality, and human and non-human competencies were redistributed. This redistribution partly lead to a bunch of consequences. 1) Marshrutka become an area of multiple moral contradictions and conflicts with a door as an epicenter. 2) Marshrutka door became more closer to text than to machine because it allow simultaneous presence of enunciator and enunciatee.