在鄉村發展策略上，除了常見的「內生」與「外生」模型以外，近年來另有所謂的鄉村發展的「第三條路」被提出來。此「第三條路」拒絕「外生」或「內生」的傳統二元觀點，強調鄉村發展的地方內與地方外的力量應互為作用，為鄉村發展策略提供了新思維。鄉村發展的「第三條路」引用了行動者網絡理論 (actor network theory (ANT) ) 使「第三條路」的觀念更清析，但是這二者之間的連結少有實證上的研究。因此，本文一方面將二者之間的內涵作有系統的連結，另一方面透過九份1895-1945年的發展歷程來作檢驗。檢驗結果發現，九份的發展大致符合「第三條路」的內涵，ANT亦可以解釋九份這時期的發展。但是，在個案中也發現，ANT應用於鄉村發展上的許多技術與理論問題，這些問題需要更深入的分析與更多的個案研究，才能清楚地確定ANT應用在鄉村發展的妥適性。

Following the debates about exogenous and endogenous development, “the third way” of rural development that stresses the interplay between the local and external forces in controlling the developmental processes has particular utility in understanding the diverse forms of rural development. Although the conceptual basis of the third way has been sharpened by the actor network theory (ANT), there are not enough case studies to examine the theoretical legality of this new idea. Based on a case study on Chiu-Fen settlement this paper assesses whether the ANT and the third way can provide a new paradigm of rural development. The findings from this case study show that development in Chiu-Fen settlement can be explained by the ANT very well. At the same time, this case study shows a number of issues that must be overcome before the ANT can be adequately applied to rural development.