Actor-network theory-based applications in sustainability: A systematic literature review

Abstract

Sustainability is a multifaceted endeavor that underscores the interdependence between society and nature. Its complexity arises from a delicate balance among four sustainability dimensions: economic, environmental, social, and durational. Achieving this equilibrium requires socio-technical changes, where actors and networks play pivotal roles. Actor-network theory is essential for addressing these aspects of sustainability, but a comprehensive overview of its contribution to sustainability literature is lacking. This paper provided the first systematic literature review of actor-network theory-based applications in sustainability, shedding light on current and future research directions. A bibliometric analysis of the literature from 1999 to 2024 using VOSviewer software and the Scopus database was conducted. The analysis of 197 relevant articles utilized performance metrics (productivity and citations) and science mapping techniques (co-citation analysis, bibliographic coupling, and co-word analysis). The findings reveal significant growth in publications, particularly in the last decade, as scholars have studied actor-network theory’s heterogeneity and symmetrical principles, along with the theory’s relational perspective in sustainability. The study specified four knowledge foundations of actor-network theory-based applications in sustainability, namely the nature-science perspective, multi-level perspective, cosmopolitan perspective, and meta-theoretical perspective, as well as four thematic clusters: urbanization, practices/tools, transitions, and industry. Future actor-network theory research in sustainability could emphasize the durational and socio-psychological dimensions, and focus on the field of social science computing. This paper significantly contributes to theory-based applications in sustainability and aids scholars in understanding actor-network theory while exploring critical unanswered questions about sustainability challenges and issues.