The concept of an obligatory passage point (OPP) was developed by sociologist

Michel Callon Michel Callon (born 1945) is a professor of sociology at the École des mines de Paris and member of the Centre de sociologie de l'innovation. He is an author in the field of Science and Technology Studies and one of the leading proponents of act ...

in a seminal contribution to

actor–network theory Actor–network theory (ANT) is a theoretical and methodological approach to social theory where everything in the social and natural worlds exists in constantly shifting networks of relationships. It posits that nothing exists outside those rela ...

: Callon, Michel (1986), "Elements of a sociology of translation: Domestication of the Scallops and the Fishermen of St Brieuc Bay". ''In''

John Law John Law may refer to: Arts and entertainment * John Law (artist) (born 1958), American artist * John Law (comics), comic-book character created by Will Eisner * John Law (film director), Hong Kong film director * John Law (musician) (born 1961) ...

(Ed.), ''Power, Action and Belief: A New Sociology of Knowledge?'' London, Routledge: 196–233. Obligatory passage points are a feature of actor-networks, usually associated with the initial (

problematization Problematization is a process of stripping away common or conventional understandings of a subject matter in order to gain new insights.This method can be applied to a term, writing, opinion, ideology, identity, or person. Practioners consider t ...

) phase of a translation process. An OPP can be thought of as the narrow end of a funnel, that forces the actors to converge on a certain topic, purpose or question. The OPP thereby becomes a necessary element for the formation of a network and an action program. The OPP thereby mediates all interactions between actors in a network and defines the action program. Obligatory passage points allow for local networks to set up negotiation spaces that allow them a degree of autonomy from the global network of involved actors. If a project is unable to impose itself as a strong OPP between the global and local networks, it has no control over global resources such as financial and political support, which can be misused or withdrawn. Additionally, a weak OPP is unable to take credit for the successes achieved within the local network, as outside actors are able to bypass its control and influence the local network directly. An action program can comprise a number of different OPPs. An OPP can also be redefined as the problematization phase is revisited. In Callon and Law's '"Engineering and Sociology in a Military Aircraft Project" the project management of a project to design a new strategic jet fighter for the British Military became an obligatory passage point between representatives of government and aerospace engineers. In recent years, the notion of the obligatory passage point has taken hold in information systems security and

information privacy Information privacy is the relationship between the collection and dissemination of data, technology, the public expectation of privacy, contextual information norms, and the legal and political issues surrounding them. It is also known as data ...

disciplines and journals. Backhouse et al. (2006)Backhouse, J., Hsu, C. W., & Silva, L. (2006). Circuits of power in creating de jure standards: Shaping an international information systems security standard. ''Management Information Systems Quarterly, 30''(3), 413–438. doi:10.2307/25148767 illustrated how practices and policies are standardized and institutionalized through OPP.

References

Actor-network theory {{Socio-stub