Bruno Latour

This article explores the potential of absence, invisibility and disappearance as fundamental ideas for choreography in the present time. Capitalism is a main provider of "experiences" making performativity a central locus of productivity. Our relation with objects is defining new relations that moved away from our role of object users. As performance becomes a core feature of capitalism could a refusal to perform or a withdrawal provide a critical stance on the way we live today? Such refusal encapsulates a radical aspect in a time where performance seems to cooperate with capitalism. To leave the stage to an "object performer" is to engage with other meanings and worlds that might translate our present hybrid world characterized by a growing dependence of the human body and technology.

Tech-libertarian billionaires try to colonize Mars, they create sea-steads to avoid the juridical, physical and economical constraints of the nationstate and they build climate secured luxury bunkers in New Zealand to escape a coming ecological apocalypse. In short, the ultra-rich escapists are abandoning modern ideals of progress for all and are explicitly planning to leave us behind as crumbles on a plate. In a tonality that tries to capture both the utter seriousness and the humour of the situation, this draft (of a chapter) seeks to describe these psycho-spatial strategies and their ideological source. The text is written for the catalogue of B. Latour (editor) and M.G. Terrin's upcoming exhibition on Critical Zones (2020, ZKM Karlsruhe).

Metamaquettes: Between the Lab and the Site exhibition presents a body of works that explore subjective perceptions of space and user engagement. Metamaquettes are installations, models, and mock-ups that question their own nature yet create playful spaces in which to explore cognition/perception, scale, light and (im)materiality. Metamaquettes invite us to investigate subjectivity, neglected notions about sensory experiences, communal habits, and the ordinary and vernacular elements of culture. Being a composite word that derives from the Greek μετά/meta, and the French maquette, Metamaquette literally translates as after/post/among/beyond models. Swinging between the real and its representation, Metamaquettes occupy the liminal space of laboratory-cum-site, becoming simultaneously both experiments and experiences.

The French philosopher, Bruno Latour claims that science experimentation has now moved outside the laboratory, to the world wide lab, where we are all engaged in a series of experiments collectively attempting to survive. Metamaquettes exhibition presents new states for projects, where the laboratory and site merge into one. Models move away from the desk - and scale up to intervene in public spaces and lobbies, turning these sites into opportunities for experiments. We all collectively participate in these experiments to test an idea, witnessing its appeal and prospect. By positioning installations as meta-spaces that depart from the service model of architecture practice, Metamaquettes exhibition lends a fresh perspective on the influence of installations in contemporary architecture. The minimum quality of this architecture is subjected to specific costs, materials, and other resources and conditions; however, what in Metamaquettes appears as experimental and innovative will soon become integral part of the new traditional.

For centuries, pilgrimage and festival have been central in ritual studies. Most commonly, they were studied on their own terms, often considered separate. However, the importance of pilgrimage and festival as religious practices for theorizing ritual remains uncontested, even though there has been little attempt to study these forms of religious and secular practice in direct conjunction with one another or within a coherent theoretical framework marrying both. This Special Issue aims to fill this gap by combining the study of pilgrimage and festival while emphasizing those general concepts of analysis that would allow scholars to link different dimensions of pilgrimage and festival.

Is Bruno Latour a ‘state thinker’? His intensive examination of Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan certainly forms an important linchpin of and a link to understanding his wide-ranging and interdisciplinary work. Asking about Latour’s understanding of the state proves to be a promising approach to addressing core questions in actor-network theory, to Latour’s time-diagnostic critique of modernity and to his search for the prospects of future political collectivity. The contributions collected here present various approaches to Bruno Latour’s work on problems of statehood and political collectivity, on his analysis of law, on his concept of power and on his political ecology, as well as on how his thinking connects to matters of international relations and the theory of publics.

With contributions by Lorina Buhr, Anne Dölemeyer, Filipe dos Reis, Graham Harman, Arjen Kleinherenbrink, Leander Scholz, Hagen Schölzel, Jan Christoph Suntrup, Sjoerd van Tuinen and Daniel Witte.

Au point de rencontre entre la petite et la grande échelle, Micromegapolis invite à prendre rendez-vous avec « Gaïa » – cette figure du présent, où la planète est soumise à l’activité humaine, elle-même dépositaire de l’avenir de la planète… Trois enquêteurs partent ici en éclaireurs à la recherche d’instruments scientifiques et techniques. Car il s’agit de mesurer l’incommensurable dépassement des humains par le cosmos, qu’on l’appelle globe, monde, environnement ou atmosphère... Ainsi parcourent-ils Toulouse, une ville qu’ils pensent d’abord ordinaire. Ils y découvrent finalement l’extraordinaire complexité des relations passionnées entre les humains et la Terre.

Alternant modélisations graphiques et références culturelles, ce conte scientifique instrumenté utilise une technologie innovante. Le code informatique est ici au service d’une articulation inédite pour un livre numérique. Pop-ups et hyperliens, graphiques et cartes dynamiques, sons et vidéos viennent documenter et augmenter le récit. Le lecteur peut ainsi varier ses approches pour découvrir et comprendre les témoins gaïesques venus se présenter à lui.

L’enquête Micromegapolis a été commanditée par Bruno Latour au collectif Urbain, trop Urbain, pour l’occasion composé de Matthieu Duperrex, Claire Dutrait et François Dutrait (auteurs), Audrey Leconnetable (graphiste) et Gwen Catalá (développeur).

Arcipelago Italia è il titolo della esposizione ospitata al Padiglione Italia della Biennale di Architettura 2018. Curata da Mario Cucinella, è un viaggio nell'Italia interna articolato in 8 itinerari e 5 progetti. I progetti sono l'esito del lavoro di studi di architettura, coadiuvati da esperti, ricercatori delle università locali e tecnici dell'ascolto attivo, che hanno proposto interventi in altrettante zone del Paese. I progetti riguardano spazi ibridi, che ospitano produzione e servizi, intendono ricucire parti di città, valorizzare risorse, migliorare l'accessibilità, promuovere sviluppo. Sono, tra gli altri, la "Casa dei cittadini" in Barbagia o la riattivazione degli scali di fondovalle per la Collina materana. Gli itinerari delineano una sequenza di risorse territoriali disposta lungo l'arco alpino e la dorsale appenninica, composta di borghi, villaggi, ambienti insediativi, "luoghi cospicui" e opere di architettura. Queste ultime credo siano state selezionate per il programma di ricerca che perseguono, per la tensione progettuale che esprimono, a favore della coesione sociale, della costruzione di nuove comunità, dell'attivazione delle energie sociali: penso, tra gli altri, a CasermArcheologica a Sansepolcro, ai progetti di architettura alpina a Ostana, al recupero della borgata di Paraloup. In un libro uscito in Francia alla fine dello scorso anno e appena tradotto in italiano, Bruno Latour si interroga su come orientare oggi l'azione politica (Latour Tracciare la rotta, Cortina, Milano, 2018). Il suo suggerimento è quello di assumere l'orizzonte del "Terrestre", considerandolo come la questione politica praticabile e rilevante nel Nuovo Regime Climatico. Assumere il Terrestre implica superare la distinzione tra Locale e Globale, i due attrattori attorno ai

Ein auffälliges Merkmal der Texte Bruno Latours ist die Verwendung des Vokabulars der Informatik. Neben 'Blackbox' fällt auch 'Programm' als zentrale Vokabel von Latours Akteur-Netzwerk-Theorie in diese Klasse, und man könnte vermuten, dass Latour mit diesen Wörtern auch neue Begriffe in die Terminologie der Sozial-und Geisteswissenschaften hineinkopiert. Um zu verstehen, was diese Vokabeln bedeuten, kann es helfen, ihre ersten Verwendungsfälle aufzuspüren. Im Fall von 'Programm' findet sich ein sehr früher und sehr prominenter Verwendungsfall bei Alan Turing, und zwar in seinem Aufsatz "Computing Machinery and Intelligence" von 1950. Dort führt Turing vor, was 'programmieren' bedeutet: nämlich (1) zu beobachten, wie Menschen ein Problem lösen, (2) diese Beobachtungen Schritt-für-Schritt zu analysieren und dann(3) ein Regelbuch zu verfassen, dass alle notwendigen Arbeitsanweisungen enthält, um das Verfahren erneut und wiederholbar zu durchlaufen. Dass dieses Regelbuch, wenn es denn in einer passenden formalen Sprache verfasst ist, auch von einer passend konstruierten Maschine vollzogen werden kann, war zu Turings Zeiten die relevante und erklärungsbedürftige Entdeckung-dass ein Raum von Buchhaltern, angeleitet von Mathematikern und unter Nutzung von mechanischen Tischrechnern, sich in einen "rechnenden Raum" mit "Rechenknechten" verwandeln kann, war aus dem Arbeitsalltag bekannt und zeigte sich schon in der Verwendung des Wortes 'computer' in Turings Alltagssprache. Zu Turings Zeit war ein ‚computer' immer ein Mensch mit Fachwissen, speziellen Fähigkeiten und vielleicht Hilfsmitteln. Heute verhält es sich genau andersherum: Dass Rechenmaschinen mit Hilfe von formalen Sprachen 'programmiert' werden können, ist für uns selbstverständlich-und ein 'computer' ist immer 'digital' und nicht 'menschlich'. Bruno Latour macht uns nun darauf aufmerksam, dass ein Programm nicht nur in technische Artefakte eingeschrieben werden kann, sondern dass wir im Rahmen einer symmetrischen Beschreibung auch die Regeln eines Akteur-Netzwerkes mit Menschen und Nicht-Menschen als Einschreibung eines Programms auffassen können. Mit dieser Wende schließt sich zumindest begriffsgeschichtlich ein Kreis-und es wird gleichermaßen fruchtbar, Latour mit Turing wie Turing mit Latour zu lesen.

Kurz-Vortrag gehalten auf dem von der AG 7 "Netzwerke" gestalteten Arbeitstreffen des SFB933 "Materiale Textkulturen" am 30.05.2016.

Over the last years, the Anthropocene has entered, if not invaded, social science and humanities discourse. The field has become almost saturated with perspectives, analyses and commentary; daily additions means that it can hardly even be surveyed.
The work of the Polish microbiologist Ludwik Fleck, belatedly recognized for his pioneering 1935 study Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact, would seem an unlikely resource for grappling with the Anthropocene challenges of the 21st Century. Nevertheless, he makes surprise appearances in some recent works that deal with these issues. Thus, the literary scholar and intellectual historian Barbara Herrnstein (2018) finds inspiration in Fleck for dealing with the ‘perplexing realities’ of the Anthropocene, while the philosopher of science Isabelle Stengers (2018) develops a contrast between Thomas Kuhn and Fleck as part of her argument for slowing down the sciences and learning to compose with Gaia.
Both highlight the importance of Fleck’s constructivist and pragmatist conception of science. Smith turns to Fleck because of his radically constructivist conception of knowledge and the cognitive dynamics of thought collectives; highly relevant when it comes to understanding climate ‘resistance’ or ‘denialism.’ In contrast, Stengers’ main interest is in his treatment of politics, which she reconfigures as part of her speculative proposal for cosmopolitics. The first part of the paper explores these Fleck-inspired analyses and locates them in the context of the conceptual and practical challenges facing contemporary social science scholarship in the Anthropocene (or, with Stengers, after the intrusion of Gaia). While by no means in full agreement, my reading emphasizes that they are also not mutually exclusive, or necessarily opposed. Instead, adding texture to one another, they form a pattern of speculative, conceptual, practical and political contrasts. In the second half, I use this pattern of contrasts to test a selection of proposals for how to deal with climate disruption.

[Open Access through DOI link] This essay examines the materiality of the two pianofortes in Jane Austen’s Emma (1815). Rather than focusing on the piano’s symbolic function—its cultural capital, for instance—this essay highlights how the physical qualities of the piano as an object enable specific plot and aesthetic effects within the novel. The instrument’s conspicuousness—the continuous human attention that it demands—allows these two instruments to become objects of sustained discourse within the plot. However, in addition to affording certain narrative effects, the piano also functions as a site of interpretive ambiguity, as the object continues to call attention to itself even after its narrative fecundity has been allegedly resolved. By examining the novel’s engagement with these pianos, this essay argues for a more open understanding of narrative agency—one that acknowledges the narrative generating and genre-undermining power of things.

Este documento es un ejercicio elaborado durante el seminario de área impartido por el Dr. Peter Krieger en la Maestría en Arquitectura de la UNAM, en donde se abordan temas de interés actual que son parte de la producción arquitectónica y de ciudad así como los modos de difusión de ellas, como lo son las imágenes virtuales, y las consecuencias tangibles que tiene esta difusión sobre la ciudad, explicado a partir de un centro comercial en proceso de construcción como caso de estudio, siendo una tipología de edificación que ha tomado fuerza en Ciudad de México y en otras del mundo.

Resumen E l propósito de este trabajo es analizar el uso del concepto de red según Manuel Castells y Bruno Latour. El primero, en la trilogía La Era de la Información, caracteriza a la sociedad red como una nueva estructura social en la que existe una preeminencia de la morfología social sobre la acción social (Castells, 2005). El segundo, en cambio, desde su Teoría del Actor Red, sostiene que se puede hablar de una red siempre que la acción es redistribuida (Latour, 2011). Cabe preguntarse entonces: ¿Cuál es el lugar de la agencia humana en la sociedad red? Sostenemos que cada una de estas concepciones se corresponde con el eje agencia-estructura, de la teoría social o sociolo gía. Para empezar, indagaremos acerca de los acerca-mientos y diferencias entre dichos enfoques, y en el alcance explicativo del concepto de red de cada uno para la teoría social. Luego analizaremos los intercambios entre dichos autores en el workshop Seminario Internacional sobre Teoría de la Red: Mul­ tidimensionalidad de la red en la Era digital, que se realizó en febrero de 2010 en la Universidad del Sur de California. En ese encuentro se inten-tó resignificar la categoría de red desde distintas disciplinas. Sintetizaremos el aporte de estos autores, con énfasis en el eje agencia-estructura y finalizaremos estableciendo algunos interrogan-tes acerca de la red como concepto que habilite la comunicación entre disciplinas. Palabras Clave: Redes, Castells, Latour, Teo-ría Social. Abstract T he purpose of this work is to analyze Manuel Castells' and Bruno Latour's use of the concept of "network". The first one, in his trilogy The Information Age, characterizes the network society as a new social structure in which there is a preeminence of social morphology over social action (Castells, 2005). In opposition, Latour developed his Actor Network Theory (ANT), from which he states that we can talk about networks every time action is redistributed (Latour, 2011). Therefore, the questions: Which is the place for human action in the network society? raises. In the first place, we will identify possible agreements and distances between both authors developments regarding the networks, in relationship with the agency-structure axis. In the second place, we will analyze the interactions between these two authors in the International Seminar on Network Theory: Network Multidimensionality in the Digital Age in an interdisciplinary meeting that was held at the University of South California. In this interdisciplinary meeting, researchers from different fields (biology, ethnography, computational sciences, sociology, etc.) met with the purpose of resignifying the term "network". We will analyze each approach according to the agency-structure axis regarding networks. Finally, we will inquiry the role of the network concept and theories in the communication of disciplines.

Opioid overdose is a growing issue in Australia. Programs to provide opioid consumers with ‘take-home’ naloxone to reverse overdose exist internationally and in some Australian cities, but uptake remains inconsistent. As an opioid antagonist, naloxone has the capacity to stimulate distressing withdrawal symptoms. These sensations are shaped by complex factors – including the quantity and intervals
of naloxone administration – and can contribute to conflict during, and immediately following, revival. This possibility of conflict is thought to negatively affect willingness to use naloxone. Researchers have not yet analysed this conflict in detail nor considered the potential positive social interactions that can occur in the context of take-home naloxone administration. We draw on interviews conducted as part of a broader Australian study of the use of take-home naloxone by people who consume opioids (or ‘peer administration’) to identify accounts of both conflict and appreciation. Additionally, we analyse the strategies people administering naloxone use to manage and avert potential conflict. Drawing on Science and Technologies Studies, we conceptualise take-home naloxone as a technology that takes shape in practice with effects that are produced through specific practices during particular administration events. Focussing primarily on titration and communication, we argue that those administering naloxone actively manage the potential for conflict during administration. We conclude that if efforts to increase the uptake of take-home naloxone highlight these strategies they have the potential to improve administration experiences and the reputation of take-home naloxone and, in the process, help challenge the stigma faced by people who consume opioids.