A-Lex-I-Con

Graham Harman from the American University of Cairo discussed Bruno Latour as a philosopher of science on 29 November 2007 at Information Systems Research Forum (ISRF). In his talk Harman built a skillful juxtaposition of Latourian Actor-Network Theory (ANT) and Heidegger’s concept of fourfold. This could overcome major shortcomings in both traditions argues Harman.

As Harman pointed out it remains to be seen whether Latour will ever be accepted as a philosopher by philosophers. Nevertheless, to me it seems this could put inspiring yet so slippery ANT on a right footing from the perspective of empirical research. For instance, in the discussion Professor Lucas Introna from Lancaster University pointed out how analyses inspired by ANT end up too often objectifying relations, which is an obvious mistake.

ANT is about relating - how actors are made of and contain other actors - not links between actors. ANT does not tell us what or how the world is, but it can help in becoming more sensitive to our tools for studying the world.

Graham will discuss with Bruno Latour in a symposium I am organizing with the ANTHEM group on 5 February 2007 at LSE. Keep on eye also Harman’s upcoming book on the topic that includes an excellent introduction to Latour’s thinking.

See also

• ISRF poster for Graham Harman on 29 November 2007
• Events at the Information Systems and Innovation Group at LSE

The presentation of Graham Harman took place on 29 November 2007 in the Information Systems Research Forum (ISRF) at the Information Systems and Innovation Group (ISIG) of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). ISRF is a seminar series on recent advances in social research broadly relating to information and communication systems. ISRF 2007–08 was organized by Aleksi Aaltonen, Ofer Engel, Peter Erdélyi and Wifak Houij-Gueddana.