Among people and artifacts: Actor-Network Theory and the adoption of solar ice machines in the Brazilian Amazon

Using Actor-Network Theory, this article analyzes the process by which a solar-powered food storage technology was implemented in an isolated floodplain community in the Brazilian Amazon (Amazonas state, Brazil), as part of the Solar Ice Project headed by the Mamiraua Institute for Sustainable Development. Our study describes the sociotechnical network that entangles the human and nonhuman actors involved in this initiative and reflects on the complexity of the implementation process. Our discussion seeks to identify elements not generally considered in analyses of Social Technologies used in local development initiatives based on technological innovations. Data on the engineering, use, operation, and adaptation of Solar Ice Machines highlight the need to promote fluid technologies capable of adapting to the different contexts within which they are inserted.