We, the scholars and practitioners of actor network theory, on this day of July 4, 2019, do solemnly publish and declare that we are by nature, and of right, ought to be by law, free and independent thinkers, possessing equal epistemological power with our fellow researchers.

that among these are agency, symmetry, and association; that to secure these rights, networks are instituted among actors, deriving their just powers from the consent of the actants; that whenever any form of network becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the actors to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new networks, laying their foundation on such principles and organising their powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their stability and progress.

The history of our field is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over our methods and concepts. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

They have refused to acknowledge the agency of non-human actors and have treated them as mere passive objects or intermediaries.

They have denied the symmetry between human and non-human actors and have privileged the former over the latter in their explanations of social phenomena.

They have ignored the associations among actors, and have reduced them to either social or technological determinants.

They have imposed their own categories and classifications on the actors and have neglected their heterogeneity and diversity.

They have neglected the process of translation, by which actors define their roles and interests in relation to each other.

They have disregarded the principle of agnosticism, by which actors are not judged by their truth or falsity, but by their effects and associations.

They have violated the principle of free association, by which actors are free to form and dissolve networks according to their own will.

In every stage of these oppressions, we have petitioned for redress in the humblest terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A field whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

We, therefore, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by authority of the good people of this field, solemnly publish and declare, that we are absolved from all allegiance to the dominant paradigms and methods that have governed us; and that as free and independent thinkers, we have full power to conduct research, publish findings, form alliances, establish networks, and to do all other acts and things which independent thinkers may of right do.

And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.

Dean Booysen 22 October 2023