Bruno Latour, actor-networks, and the critique of critical sociology

pages: 43-72

Abstract

The paper analyzes the theoretical opus of Bruno Latour and his treatment of the concept of critique. In the first section "actor-network theory" is presented through its key notions (actant, network, translation, associations) together with Latour’s theory of modernity. In the second section various aspects of the relation between Latour and critique are discussed - first his own criticism of others (standard sociology and especially "critical", i.e. Bourdieu’s sociology), then the criticisms aimed at his work, to conclude with the political ambivalences of Latour’s attempt to develop an "acritical" social theory. . Keywords: Bruno Latour, actor-network theory, critique, modernity, sociology, Pierre Bourdieu