Latour, Bruno (b. 1947)

Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network-Theory

Oxford

Oxford University Press

2005

"Many other examples can easily be found since this version of social theory has become the default position of our mental software that takes into consideration the following."

Many other examples can easily be found since this version of social theory has become the default position of our mental software that takes into consideration the following: there exists a social 'context' in non-social activities take place; it is a specific domain of reality; it can be used as a specific type of causality to account for the residual aspects that other domains (psychology, law, economics, etc.) cannot completely deal with; it is studied by specialized scholars called sociologists or socio-(x)--'x' being the placeholder for the various disciplines; since ordinary agents are always 'inside' a social world that encompasses them, they can at best be 'informants' about this world and, at worst, be blinded to its existence, whose full effect is only visible to the social scientist's more disciplined eyes; no matter how difficult it is to carry on those studies, it is possible for them to roughly imitate the successes of the natural sciences by being as objective as other scientists thanks to the use of quantitative tools; if this is impossible, then alternative methods should be devised that take into account the 'human' and 'intentional', or 'hermeneutic' aspects of those domains without the ethos of science; and when social scientists are asked to give expert advice on social engineering or to accompany social change, some sort of political relevance might ensue from these studies, but only after sufficient knowledge has been accumulated.
(p. 4)

Machine::Computer::Software

Reading

Bruno Latour, Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network-Theory (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005).

01/06/2016