Marxist Criticism And Transcendence Of Actor-Network Theor

Actor-Network Theory(ANT),as one of the most widely used methodologies in the field of STS(Science,Technology and Society),has surpassed the original STS field and has penetrated into the fields of political ecology,geography,tourism,accounting,education,etc.,and has now become an increasingly eye-catching interdisciplinary academic trend,and its criticism and transcendence in Marxist academia are also increasing.From the perspective of theoretical traceability,ANT has two aspects: direct theoretical source and indirect theoretical source.Its direct theoretical sources are mainly David Brewer’s "Strong Program",Algidadas Julian Gremas’ s structuralist semiotics,and Gilles Deleuze’s post-structuralism;Its indirect theoretical sources are mainly Michel Foucault’s micro-power theory,Michel Searle’s philosophy of relations,and Aphroe Noff’s process philosophy.Based on the above theoretical traceability,the content architecture and posthumanist orientation of ANT are analyzed.Its content architecture includes actors,translations,and networks.Post-humanist orientations include gathering collectives to unite human and non-human actors,abandoning cave politics in order to construct cosmic politics,and redistributing power to achieve a synergistic evolution between nature and society.ANT’s above ideas are intrinsically consistent with Western Marxism,and provide important enlightenment for Western Marxism.Its intrinsic fit is manifested in: the dialectic of facts and values is adhered to in the ontological dimension,the serious critique of capital is upheld in the epistemological dimension,and the practical approach combining quantitative and qualitative analysis is advocated in the methodological dimension.Its key revelations are manifested as the initiative and vitality of non-human actors;a strong awareness of non-reductionism;Ecological insights of dialectical ontology.We should be cautious about the academic trend in which Western Marxism increasingly draws on ANT thought.Therefore,it can be critically analyzed from the perspective of classical Marxism.The current Marxist critique of actor network theory is mainly embodied in four aspects: first,at the ontological level,the agency of non-human actors is criticized;second,at the epistemological level,its non-reductionism is criticized;Third,at the methodological level,its rejection of social structure analysis is criticized;Fourth,at the level of axiology,the value goal of ontological politics is criticized.Based on the above critiques,this paper transcends the actor network theory from three perspectives of historical materialism(social field),Marxist political economy(social-natural intersection)and natural dialectics(natural field),which provides a creative solution to ANT’s theoretical dilemma of anti-historical materialism,de-political economy analysis,and radical empiricism,and also provides useful enlightenment for the healthy development of Chinese Marxist STS.