150 Participatory Processes
government) establish their positions (X 1 and Y 1 and later X 2 and Y 2 ) to such an
extent that actor A is left with only one trajectory (for a general view, see Burawoy,
1985; and with regard to agriculture, see Benvenuti, 1982, Benvenuti et al, 1989).
Thus it becomes, for example, impossible to realize C 3 – unless actor A can actually
develop mechanisms to distance himself from X 2 and Y 2.
‘Realizing things’ (of any nature) always happens through others, although to
a varying degree – through other actors, through institutions, through artefacts
etc. An ‘actor-network’ is needed: a set of precise (i.e. not accidental) relations with
others, through and within which one’s own ‘project’ can be realized. Through an
‘actor-network’ one’s own project can be carried out, because through this network
the project is connected to the projects and procedures of others. Such a network
explicitly involves the ‘social’ (it includes other actors and institutions), the ‘mate-
rial’ (it contains particular resources, artefacts and transactions) and the interac-
tion between the two.
Figure 8.4 The interaction between projects and the construction of networks