The Social Life Of A Herstory Textbook: Bridging Institutionalism And Actor-Network Theory

Description

This book studies the possibility for feminist educational change by examining a case study on the social life of a French gender and women history textbook. Massilia Ourabah opens a unique and timely dialogue between two antagonistic sociological trends: institutionalism and actor-network theory (ANT), and more specifically the inhabited institution approach and the sociology of translation. The structure of the book is dual: it offers one version of the case study grounded in the institutionalist approach, and another version grounded in the translational approach. The goal is to show that through the introduction of institutional elements and the rejection of some of ANT’s strongest assumptions, the critical value of ANT can be restored and prove a useful framework for studying sociomaterial networks in education. The book also engages with feminist pedagogy and discusses the implications of the case study for the prospect of a more gender-balanced educational curriculum. Acknowledgements......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 Starting Point: The (Same Old) Representation Problem......Page 7 Herstory: Women History, Gender History, and Feminist Pedagogy......Page 9 The Case: La place des femmes dans l’histoire and the Education Nationale......Page 11 The Social Life of a Book......Page 15 A Twofold Story: Institutionalism and Actor-Network Theory......Page 16 Structure of the Book......Page 18 References......Page 20 2 A Story of Individuals and Institutions, Lessons from Institutionalism......Page 22 The Inhabited Institution Approach......Page 23 Individual Initiatives, Strategic and Opportunistic Action in Institutional Contexts......Page 25 Networking Across Institutional Contexts......Page 36 Limitations of the Institutionalist Version......Page 41 References......Page 43 3 A Story of Translations and Materiality, Lessons from Actor-Network Theory......Page 45 The Principle of Generalised Symmetry: Human and Non-human Actors......Page 46 The Principle of Isomorphism: Institutions as Chimeras......Page 49 The Network in ANT: What Does “Social” Mean?......Page 51 The Sociology of Translation: A Social Life of Displacements and Transformations......Page 52 The Contribution of ANT: A Plea for Theoretical Inconsistency......Page 54 A Story of (Material) Translation......Page 55 Materiality, Translation, and Education......Page 62 Bringing Institutions Back In: Translations in Institutional Contexts......Page 67 References......Page 73 Can the Sociology of Translation Be Institutionalist?......Page 75 Feminist Academic Activism in Education: Long-Haul Efforts, Piecemeal Achievements......Page 79 References......Page 83 Index......Page 85