Sociomateriality is a theory that explores the inseparable relationship between social practices and material objects.
It posits that a material object isn’t just a passive tool; it actively shapes and is shaped by human interaction, and social relationships are always embedded in a material context.
The Core Idea
At its heart, sociomateriality challenges the traditional view that the social world and the material world are separate and distinct. Instead, it argues that they are “mutually constitutive,” meaning they create each other.
A social practice, like a meeting, is not just about the people in the room; it’s also about the table they sit at, the whiteboard they use, and the digital tools they interact with.
Similarly, a material object, like a smartphone, isn’t just a piece of technology; it’s a social object that enables and constrains our relationships, communication, and work practices.
Key Principles:
- Inseparability: Social and material elements can’t be understood in isolation. For example, a hospital’s patient care system isn’t just the nurses’ procedures (social) or the electronic health records (material); it’s the intertwined network of both.
- Agency: Both humans and objects have a form of agency or the capacity to act. While a human’s agency is intentional, an object’s agency is its ability to enable, constrain, or influence human actions. A specific software program, for instance, has an agency that dictates how a task can be performed, which in turn shapes the social interactions of the team using it.
- Performativity: Sociomateriality suggests that reality is not fixed but is constantly being created or “performed” through the interaction of social and material elements.
In essence, sociomateriality helps us understand how a conference room, a hospital ward, or a digital app are not just backdrops for human activity but active participants in the social dynamics that unfold within them.