An interpretation of cybersecurity in Türkiye through the lens of actor-network theory

Date

2025-1

Author

Bayram, Doğucan

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This thesis examines cybersecurity in Türkiye through the lens of Actor-Network Theory (ANT) and Material Semiotics. Since there is a limited number of studies using the ANT framework in the field of cybersecurity, this thesis makes an important contribution to the literature. It explores relationality between human and non-human actors in the formation of cybersecurity practices by analyzing key documents such as national cybersecurity strategies, legal frameworks, law enforcement brochures, and marketing materials to reveal how this network functions in practice. Using ANT as a guiding framework, it investigates processes such as translation, association, and substitution, alongside concepts like programs of action, material, strategic and discursive durability. The findings provide a descriptive account of how different actors produce relational impact to make the cybersecurity actor-network durable, demonstrating how cybersecurity practices and objects function across different spaces—regional, network, and fluid—by analyzing the effects they produce and the challenges they encounter. Finally, it integrates theoretical insights with empirical findings and provides a novel framework for understanding cybersecurity as an actor-network. Thus, it contributes to the sociological study of technology by advancing discussions on human-nonhuman interactions and the spatial and relational dimensions of socio-technical practices.

Subject Keywords

Actor-network theory, Cybersecurity practices, Human-nonhuman interactions, Material semiotics, Socio-technical networks

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/113398

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis