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What the Book Explores

Bruno Latour’s We Have Never Been Modern challenges the foundational dichotomy central to modern thought: the separation of nature and culture. Latour argues that this distinction is a ‘hybrid’ construct, an attempt to purify realms that have always been entangled. He proposes a framework for understanding the world not as consisting of pre-modern tradition versus modern science, but as a continuous process of ‘translation’ and ‘hybridization’. The book examines how scientific practices themselves are imbued with social and political considerations, and how ‘non-modern’ elements persist within the ostensibly rational world of science and technology. He introduces concepts like ‘actors’ (human and non-human) and ‘networks’ to illustrate how these hybrid formations operate.

Historical / Cultural Context

Published in 1991, We Have Never Been Modern emerged from a period of post-structuralist and science studies scholarship. It builds upon the work of figures like Michel Foucault and engages with debates surrounding the objectivity of science. Latour’s work responded to a prevailing narrative that modernity had successfully overcome superstition and tradition through the application of reason and empirical observation. He questioned the very premise of this narrative, arguing that the ‘modern constitution’ – the neat separation of nature and culture – was never fully realized and is currently undergoing a crisis, signaled by concerns about environmental degradation and technological risks. The book’s questioning of grand narratives aligns with broader postmodern trends, but Latour’s approach focuses particularly on material-semiotic analysis, bridging sociological and scientific concerns.

Who This Book Is For

This work is best suited for readers with an academic interest in science and technology studies, sociology, anthropology, and philosophy. Its complex arguments and theoretical framework require a certain level of familiarity with post-structuralist thought. However, readers interested in the cultural implications of science and the history of ideas will find it stimulating. It is not intended as an introductory text, but rather as a critical intervention in long-standing debates about modernity and its discontents.

Further Reading

• Science in Action by Bruno Latour: A related work by Latour detailing his methodology for tracing the ‘travel’ of scientific knowledge.
• The Pasteurization of France by Bruno Latour: A historical study of Louis Pasteur and the social construction of scientific facts.
• Manufacturing Consent by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky: Explores how media and political systems interact to shape public perception, offering a different but complementary critique of power structures.
• The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn: Examines how scientific paradigms shift over time, questioning the linear progression of scientific knowledge.

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