We Have Never Been Modern Bruno Latour

“With the rise of science, we moderns believe, the world changed irrevocably, separating us forever from our primitive, premodern ancestors. But if we were to let go of this fond conviction, Bruno Latour asks, what would the world look like? His book, an anthropology of science, shows us how much of modernity is actually a matter of faith.

What does it mean to be modern? What difference does the scientific method make? The difference, Latour explains, is in our careful distinctions between nature and society, between human and thing, distinctions that our benighted ancestors, in their world of alchemy, astrology, and phrenology, never made. But alongside this purifying practice that defines modernity, there exists another seemingly contrary one: the construction of systems that mix politics, science, technology, and nature. The ozone debate is such a hybrid, in Latour’s analysis, as are global warming, deforestation, even the idea of black holes. As these hybrids proliferate, the prospect of keeping nature and culture in their separate mental chambers becomes overwhelming―and rather than try, Latour suggests, we should rethink our distinctions, rethink the definition and constitution of modernity itself. His book offers a new explanation of science that finally recognizes the connections between nature and culture―and so, between our culture and others, past and present.”

"On page four of my daily newspaper, I learn that the measurements taken above the Antarctic are not good this year: the hole in the ozone layer is growing ominously larger. Reading on, I turn from upper-atmosphere chemists to Chief Executive Officers of Atochem and Monsanto, companies that are modifying their assembly lines in order to replace the innocent chlorofluorocarbons, accused of crimes against the ecosphere.

A few paragraphs later, I come across heads of state of major industrialized countries who are getting involved with chemistry, refrigerators, aerosols and inert gases. But at the end of the article, I discover that the meteorologists don’t agree with the chemists; they’re talking about cyclical fluctuations unrelated to human activity. So now the industrialists don’t know what to do. The heads of state are also holding back. Should we wait? Is it already too late? Toward the bottom of the page, Third World countries and ecologists add their grain of salt and talk about international treaties, moratoriums, the rights of future generations, and the right to development."

Bruno Latour (1947–2022) was a French philosopher, anthropologist, and sociologist widely recognized for his influential contributions to science and technology studies (STS), sociology of knowledge, and contemporary philosophy. His work profoundly reshaped how scholars understand the production of scientific facts, the role of technology in society, and the complex networks that link humans and non-humans.

Latour is best known as one of the principal developers of Actor-Network Theory (ANT), an approach that challenges traditional distinctions between nature and society, subject and object, or human and machine. According to ANT, social reality is constructed through dynamic networks composed of both human actors and non-human entities, such as instruments, texts, institutions, and technologies. This perspective emphasizes that scientific knowledge is not merely discovered but actively constructed through practices, negotiations, and material arrangements.

Among Latour’s most influential works are Laboratory Life (with Steve Woolgar), Science in Action, We Have Never Been Modern, Reassembling the Social, and An Inquiry into Modes of Existence. These books question modern assumptions about objectivity, progress, and the separation of facts and values.

In his later years, Latour focused increasingly on ecological and political issues, arguing that climate change demands new forms of collective responsibility and new ways of conceiving politics and nature. His legacy continues to shape debates across philosophy, sociology, anthropology, and environmental studies, establishing him as one of the most important thinkers of contemporary social theory.