Advancing relational methods in agri-food governance research and beyond: Introducing the Socio-Material Actor-Network Analysis (SMANA) methodology

Abstract

To better grasp the messiness of agri-food governance, recent scholarship has called for approaches that foreground its relational, territorial and power-laden character. This paper contributes to this agenda by presenting the Socio-Material Actor-Network Analysis (SMANA) methodology developed in the context of the research project AETERAKIS – A territorialised Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS) framework for agroecological transitions. Building on a hybrid theoretical foundation based on Actor-Network Theory (ANT) and Social Network Analysis (SNA), the SMANA methodology centres its attention on unpacking the agencies, formal and informal interactions, and capacities of different actors in agri-food governance processes, focusing on what infrastructures – physical and non-physical – hold actor relationships together. Based on its implementation during the AETERAKIS project, the paper proposes the operationalisation of the SMANA methodology through an adaptation of the Net-Map toolkit – a visual-based method for participatory network mapping. This approach enables collective reflection throughout its application and subsequent analysis, supporting local transformation processes. Beyond the immediate purpose of guiding data collection and analysis within the AETERAKIS project, the proposed methodology can assist researchers working on other components or relational aspects of complex, territorial and multi-actor governance processes.