Understanding Controversy Mapping

Controversy mapping is a research method developed by Bruno Latour and the Actor-Network Theory (ANT) community. It is designed to navigate and visualize complex socio-technical debates.

Why it Matters

In modern policy analysis, separating the "social" from the "technical" is impossible. Algorithms influence public life, while public life shapes algorithmic design.

This is where Policy Prism shines:

• Trace the actors involved.
• Analyze the institutional logics.
• Manage the ecosystem dynamics.

"A controversy is not a debate between two well-defined positions, but a situation where actors disagree entirely on what the debate is actually about."

Getting Started

To begin mapping, gather your source documents (PDFs, raw text, or URLs) and upload them into the Policy Prism Synthesis engine. Our AI models will automatically extract the core frictions and identify the primary human and non-human actors involved.