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Cited by 7,763Contemporary Sociological Theory and PracticeQualitative Research Methods and EthicsSocial Science and Policy Research

Some elements of a sociology of translation: Domestication of the scallops and the fishermen of St Brieuc Bay

Callon, Michel·1984·The Sociological Review
DOI 10.1111/j.1467-954x.1984.tb00113.x
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Abstract

This paper outlines a new approach to the study of power, that of the sociology of translation. Starting from three principles, those of agnosticism (impartiality between actors engaged in controversy), generalised symmetry (the commitment to explain conflicting viewpoints in the same terms) and free association (the abandonment of all a priori distinctions between the natural and the social), the paper describes a scientific and economic controversy about the causes for the decline in the population of scallops in St. Brieuc Bay and the attempts by three marine biologists to develop a conservation strategy for that population. Four ‘moments’ of translation are discerned in the attempts by these researchers to impose themselves and their definition of the situation on others: (a) problematisation: the researchers sought to become indispensable to other actors in the drama by denning the nature and the problems of the latter and then suggesting that these would be resolved if the actors negotiated the ‘obligatory passage point’ of the researchers' programme of investigation; (b) interessement: a series of processes by which the researchers sought to lock the other actors into the roles that had been proposed for them in that programme; (c) enrolment: a set of strategies in which the researchers sought to define and interrelate the various roles they had allocated to others; (d) mobilisation: a set of methods used by the researchers to ensure that supposed spokesmen for various relevant collectivities were properly able to represent those collectivities and not betrayed by the latter. In conclusion it is noted that translation is a process, never a completed accomplishment, and it may (as in the empirical case considered) fail.

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  • ANT is not intended as a strict or consistent theoretical framework but, rather, a flexible and evolving approach with its own ambiguities and limitations that even scholars like Latour, Law, and Callon have openly acknowledged.

    “ANT is not intended as a strict or consistent theoretical framework but, rather, a flexible and evolving approach with its own ambiguities and limitations that even scholars like Latour, Law, and Callon have openly acknowledged (Callon, 1984;Latour, 2007;Law, 1992).”

    From Deepfakes, Democracy, and the Ethics of Synthetic Media: A Synthesis of the SOLARIS Project (2026) · cites this paper as Callon, 1984

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Authors
Callon, M.
Corresponding author
Callon, Michel
Venue
The Sociological Review
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
1984-05
Volume
32
Issue
1_suppl
Pages
196-233
ISSN
  • 0038-0261 (ISSN-L)
  • 1467-954X
DOI
10.1111/j.1467-954x.1984.tb00113.x
OpenAlex
W2167757977
Cited by
7,763
References
1
Citations by year
2026: 299 · 2025: 339 · 2024: 362 · 2023: 351 · 2022: 349 · 2021: 367 · 2020: 460 · 2019: 405 · 2018: 371 · 2017: 360 · 2016: 358 · 2015: 388 · 2014: 444 · 2013: 385 · 2012: 381
FWCI
18.63
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
The Sociological Review (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics
  • Social Sciences › General Social Sciences › Social Science and Policy Research
Keywords
actor-network theory, power, scallop conservation, fishermen, marine biologists, problematization, interessement, enrollment, mobilization, agnosticism, free association, scientific controversy, fisheries management

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