The Modern is Not Yet: Latour and the Concept of Modernity

In 1991, French philosopher Bruno Latour published his work titled, We Have Never Been Modern, and in 1993 it was translated into English. Latour defined herein the concept of modernity and characterized it by dichotomy. According to Latour, the dichotomic narratives and divisions such as nature versus society, human versus non–human, and scientific versus non–scientific are not actual but rather illusory. By claiming such narratives to be illusory, Latour concludes that humanity as a collective has never achieved modernity. Regardless of whether Latour’s claim is valid or not, it is very meaningful, not only because it is a bold statement, but also because a critical and thorough examination of his claim will yield further intellectual findings, while opening more possibilities for potential questions and investigation. By examining Latour’s We Have Never Been Modern, the author argues that the origin of Latour’s project is rooted in his perception of crises, and that such perception leads Latour to a positionality of neutrality.