Wie politisch ist die Akteur-Netzwerk-Theorie?

Abstract

On the occasion of Bruno Latour's death on October 9, 2022, this article deals with the political value of actor-network theory (ANT). It reviews current literature on the topic as well as a TV interview with Latour, which was produced in October 2021 and aired on the European public service channel Arte in May 2022. The text shows that Latour does not develop a political grand theory, but rather a political ethics based on post-structuralist approaches from the 1980s. By deepening our understanding of the everyday interplay between humans and things, ANT laid the methodological ground to build new concepts and institutions better suited to cope with the social and political issues raised by the ecological crisis.

Keywords

• Bruno Latour
• actor-network theory
• politics
• ethics
• responsibility
• new materialism