Actant refers to any entity that can act to influence a network, anything that can modify other entities through action.
Three types of actants:
- Actors are humans in various forms, including combinations, and including ‘roles’.
- Constraints either connect or contain, shape possibilities, make certain things more likely than others – can be an ‘attractor’.
- Constructors transform things but remain essentially unchanged in the act of transformation, in generally reliable ways. E.g. a process, a ritual – a bringing together of things could also be a constructor.
Society becomes a network of interactions and relationships between entities rather than just people.