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Work #588 · Mid

We Have Never Been Modern (Nous n'avons jamais été modernes)

Bruno Latour
1991 · French
Anthropology of science / sociology of knowledge · French science studies / actor-network theory

Latour's 1991 foundational text — "we have never been modern" because the modern purification of nature-society never happened

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute We Have Never Been Modern (Nous n'avons jamais été modernes) (Mid)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Plural
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Both
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency None
Observer · Moral Authority Constructed
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

We Have Never Been Modern (Nous n'avons jamais été modernes)

The non-modern historical time of hybrid proliferation.

Space

We Have Never Been Modern (Nous n'avons jamais été modernes)

The space of nature-society hybrids.

Matter

We Have Never Been Modern (Nous n'avons jamais été modernes)

The material hybrid actors.

Observer

We Have Never Been Modern (Nous n'avons jamais été modernes)

The symmetrical-anthropological observer.

Energy

We Have Never Been Modern (Nous n'avons jamais été modernes)

Energies of nature-society hybridization.

Information

We Have Never Been Modern (Nous n'avons jamais été modernes)

Foundational science-studies framework.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

We Have Never Been Modern (Nous n'avons jamais été modernes)

Latour's anti-modernist anthropology of science foundational for STS, ANT, and the broader symmetric-anthropological turn.