Reassembling the Social

Reassembling the Social
Author :
Publisher : OUP Oxford
Total Pages : 812
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780191622892
ISBN-13 : 0191622893
Rating : 4/5 (893 Downloads)

Book Synopsis Reassembling the Social by : Bruno Latour

Download or read book Reassembling the Social written by Bruno Latour and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2007-09-06 with total page 812 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reassembling the Social is a fundamental challenge from one of the world's leading social theorists to how we understand society and the 'social'. Bruno Latour's contention is that the word 'social', as used by Social Scientists, has become laden with assumptions to the point where it has become misnomer. When the adjective is applied to a phenomenon, it is used to indicate a stablilized state of affairs, a bundle of ties that in due course may be used to account for another phenomenon. But Latour also finds the word used as if it described a type of material, in a comparable way to an adjective such as 'wooden' or 'steely'. Rather than simply indicating what is already assembled together, it is now used in a way that makes assumptions about the nature of what is assembled. It has become a word that designates two distinct things: a process of assembling; and a type of material, distinct from others. Latour shows why 'the social' cannot be thought of as a kind of material or domain, and disputes attempts to provide a 'social explanations' of other states of affairs. While these attempts have been productive (and probably necessary) in the past, the very success of the social sciences mean that they are largely no longer so. At the present stage it is no longer possible to inspect the precise constituents entering the social domain. Latour returns to the original meaning of 'the social' to redefine the notion, and allow it to trace connections again. It will then be possible to resume the traditional goal of the social sciences, but using more refined tools. Drawing on his extensive work examining the 'assemblages' of nature, Latour finds it necessary to scrutinize thoroughly the exact content of what is assembled under the umbrella of Society. This approach, a 'sociology of associations', has become known as Actor-Network-Theory, and this book is an essential introduction both for those seeking to understand Actor-Network Theory, or the ideas of one of its most influential proponents.


Reassembling the Social Related Books

Reassembling the Social
Language: en
Pages: 812
Authors: Bruno Latour
Categories: Social Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2007-09-06 - Publisher: OUP Oxford

GET EBOOK

Reassembling the Social is a fundamental challenge from one of the world's leading social theorists to how we understand society and the 'social'. Bruno Latour'
Contemporary Applications of Actor Network Theory
Language: en
Pages: 304
Authors: Idongesit Williams
Categories: Social Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2020-09-25 - Publisher: Springer Nature

GET EBOOK

This book provides empirically driven discussions and investigations in the relevance of Actor Network Theory (ANT) and its theoretical concepts. As our civiliz
Applying the Actor-Network Theory in Media Studies
Language: en
Pages: 341
Authors: Spöhrer, Markus
Categories: Social Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2016-08-24 - Publisher: IGI Global

GET EBOOK

Actor-Network Theory (ANT), originally a social theory, seeks to organize objects and non-human entities into social networks. Its most innovative claim approac
Social Theory Now
Language: en
Pages: 416
Authors: Claudio E. Benzecry
Categories: Social Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2017-08-14 - Publisher: University of Chicago Press

GET EBOOK

The landscape of social theory has changed significantly over the three decades since the publication of Anthony Giddens and Jonathan Turner’s seminal Social
Actor Networks of Planning
Language: en
Pages: 268
Authors: Yvonne Rydin
Categories: Architecture
Type: BOOK - Published: 2016-02-12 - Publisher: Routledge

GET EBOOK

Planning is centrally focused on places which are significant to people, including both the built and natural environments. In making changes to these places, p