CONTENTS

Prefnca

Itttrodtrctit'tn
The GominglintoBeing of Scientilic Obiects
L o r r a i t t cD s s t o n

-l Preternatural Philosophy 15
I

LL)rrAlllL'UnStOll

2 Mathematical Entities in Scientific Discourse

P A U L U SG U L D I N A N D H I S D / S S E R I A I / O
11

DE MOTU TERRAE
RtukaFel'lhtty

3 Dreams and Self-consciousness

THE I\4
N4APPING I N D I N T H E L A T EE I G H T E E N T H
67

A N D E A R L YN I N E T E E N T HC E N T U R I E S
D o r i s K a t t fn r a r r n

4 Mutations of the Self in Old Regime

and Postrevolutionary France 86
F R O I \ 4A M E T O M O I Ï O LE MOI

l n t tG o l d s t e i t t

5 The Cominglinto BeinglandPassing Away of

Value fheories in Economics (1776-1976) 717
G é r n r dI o r l n t t t l
 CONTENTS

"An Entirely New Obiect of Gonsciousness,

of Volition, of Thouglht" t32
T H E C O M I N G I N T O B E I N G A N D ( A L I \O
1 S T ) P A S S I N GA W A Y
O F " S O C I E T Y "A S A S C I E N T I F I CO E J E C T
PeterWagner

'Sentimental Pessimism" and Ethnographic Experience 158

PREFACE
O R , W H Y C U L T U R EI S N O T A D I S A P P E A R I N G" O B J E C T "
MarslutllSahlins

8 How the Ether Spawned the Microworld

r ,- ^ | | |
teû L. rJucfiwala
The essaysin this volumr
e n c eo n " T h e C o m i n gi n t
q Life Insurance, Medical TestinEl,and ths
held in September1995a
Managlement of lflortality 226
encein Berlin.This wasor
Theodore M.Porter
stitute,and was alsothe I
-l historicalepistemologyo
On the Partial Existence of Existint andNonexistinglObiects 247
fl entific Experience"( June
I J r U t l ùL t T t O l l r
1998).Eachof the confer
the sciences-object,ex1
1I I 1 Gytoplasmic Particles
developmentin specific ca
THE TRAJECTORY
O F A S C I E N T I F I CO B . E
I CT
The aim wasto launcha h
Hans-Jôrg
Rheinberger
classification that make s
s c e n d e n t aq lu e s t i o n isn a
L i s to f C o n t r i b u t o r s 295
Most of the papershav
Index 297
at the conferenceand sub
the commentatorsat the
Heilbron,KrzysztofPom
two anonymousreferees
The ideafor the confer
ing conversations with Lc
us werefirst sketchingou
might be like.ToJùrgen'sr
realizationof our plans:a
diedon 29 September199
r e r e a d i n g sa,r n dn o r m a l a n da b -
n t u r n d e p e n d eodn n e w l n s t r u -
EKG rnachines. They required
:ople:technicians to operatethe
m a n i p u l a t et h e n u m b e r sa, n d
earnedto rely lesson the feelof
n d m o r eo n l a b o r a t o r yr e p o r t s .
in alliancewith the right kinds
.The linkageis nor sorighrasto
researchers or of old objectsby
t i o n st h a t f a v o rt h e m u l r i p l i c a -
e, a leadingrole rvasplayedby
S i m i l a r c o n s i d e r a t i o nasp p l v
researchaswell.
t the biood hadno pressurebe-
Leuseof sphygmomanometers
ty beforetherewere actuarres.
itieslike theseshouldratherbe
:ernative w a v so i k n o w i n g O . f-
,edby a viiriety of interestsar.rd
r a n do b j e c t i v i t yi n t h i ss t o r yo f
r e i n e v i t a b lper o d u cot f s c i e n c e
' .R a r h e ri t, w a sa n a d a p t a t i o tno
:nts,physicians, businessexec-
the unforthcorningapplicanrs
'orsand actuirries.
I
i
On thePartialExistenceof Existing
andIl{onexistingObjects
P R O L O G U ED: I D R A I \S, IE S I I D I E O F T U B E R C U L O S I S ?
ln797 6, the mummy of Rarnses II waswelcornedat a Parisair brrservith the
honorsdue to a headof state,greetedbv a rnirristeq, trLlmpets, and the Re-
p u b l i c a nC u a r d si n f u l l a t t i r e .A s h i n r e da r i n t h e f i e r y t i t l e o ( P n r i s -
À l n t c h - " N o s s a v a n t sa u s e c o u r sd e R a m s è sI I t o m b é m a l a d e3 0 0 0a n s
a p r è ss a n t o r t " ( O u r s c i e n t i s ttso t h e r e s c u eo f R a m s e sI I , w h o f e l l i l l t h r e e
thousandyearsLtfter Itis detttll-something is at stakeherethat defiesthe
n o r m a lf l o w o f t i m e . r S i c k n e s e s r u p t sa f t e r d e a t ha n d t h e f u l l b e n e f i to f
m o . - l e rtrer c h n o l o g a y r r i v e sa t i n y b i t t o ol a t ei o r t h eg r e a tk i n g .I n t h i ss t u n -
n i n gp i c t u r e( t i g u r e1 0 . 1 )t,h em u n l m y i s b e i n go p e r a t e u d p o no n r h es u r g r -
c , r lt a b l e ,v i o l e n t l y l i t b y f l o o d l i g h t ss, u r r o u n d e db y " o u r s c i e n t i s r si"n
white coatswearing masksagainstcontagion(either to protect Ramses
againsttheir modern-madegermsor to protectthemselvesfrom Pharaoh's
cr.rrse). After carefulexamination,the verdictof the postrnortem('/posr//
i n d e e d! ) i s o f f e r e dR : a m s e sI I h a dv e r y b a dt e e t h ,a t e r r i b l ed e f o l r l a t i o no i
T h i s c h a p t e r e t n a i r r sc l ( ) s et o t h e p a p e rr v r i t t e nf o r t h e c o n i e r e n c e that isirt theorigin of this
b o o k . Am u c h m o d i f i e dv e r s i o n m , o r e t c c h n i c aal n d m o r c p h i l o s o p h i c ahl ,a sb . ' c np u b l i s h c da s
c l r a p t t ' r5 o f P L u I L l o r ùH' so / , c :E s s r r r /i,t.t t l t e R eo l i t v o f - S c i c n , -' cSrfi r l l c sl C a n r [ . r i d g eH: i r r v a r d
U n i v e r s i t yP r e s s1, 9 9 9 ) .
l.lnspiteoftheflippanttitlesusualforPirris-r\lrrfrh.irreadingoftlietextshowsthatitis
n o t i ' l c t u i l l l vt h e k i n g l v h o h a sL r e c o msei c ka f t e rh i s d c a t h .b u t r r t h t r t h e m t : r n n r r ,f,r o m a n r n -
i e c t i o nL r , " 'fau n 5 ; u sI .n o n e t h e l t ' slsr a v ck c p t t h r ' i i r s t i n t e r p r e t i r t i o na,s s o c i r t e ud i t h t h e i r n a g e .
I , e c a u s t ' oi It s o n t o l o g i c . :i)n t e r r ' s tA
. ] l t h c d c ' t . r i los n t h e n r u n r n r r t. r i l n s p o r t i r t i o l, r n , lc u r ec a n
[,efound rn Christirne Desroches-NoblecouR r t i, l / , l s i i I I , I n t é r i t L t [ t l t/ r i s l o r r c( P a r i s :P v e -
m a l i o n 1. 9 9 6 l .
)17
248 BRUNO LATOUR Ë,ri_çfln.

"Saodowaoth,"that definethe c
i n c o m m e n s u r a bw l ei t h o u r o w
p o s s i b l yr e p l a c ei t b y " a n i n f e c
localhistory that limits rhem to
be allowedto spreadto all the r
claim is accepted asa factand in
c e r t a i n l yt h e y c a n n ojtu m p b a c
A n d y e t ,i f w e i m m e d i a t e l v
c h i n eg u n ,a M a r x i s tg u e r i l l am
t h e E g y p to f 1 0 0 08 . c . ,w e s e e n
e x t e n s i o no f t u b e r c u l o s itso t h t
a t l e a s tw , e s e e mt o b e t o r n b e t r
w h i c hw o u l db ea r a d i c a l l vr r n t i
ilF
gtttrl8 fit i n g t h e e x p r e s s i o "nR a r n s e sI I r
t e n c eW . e a r ea l l o w e do n l v t o s
3Et!ott3s r n 7 9 7 6t o i n t e r p r e tR a m s e sI I ' s
I}Enlil888
lebaodldo I l o s i sb u t ,a t t h e t i m e ,i t w a si n r
SlXtrrnrrpràc
ramort o r s o m es u c hw o r d .S a o d o w a o
i s n o w o r d t o t r a n s l a t ei t . T h e c a
s h o u l dr e m a i n i r r e t r i e v a b l ei n
Figure10.1. Our scientists to therescue of Ramses
II,whofellill threethousand r a n t . "T h e s e c o n d s o l u t i o ni s I s
(FromPrrrisMotclt,September
yearsnfter ltistletttlt. 19561
t h a t a c c e p t st u b e r c u l o s i sa n d I
p r o v i s i o n a l l yf i n a l r e v e l a t i o nc
the spinalcordthat causedextremepain.Too late for an intervention.But c o u r s eo f h i s t o r y .S a o d o w a o tah
not too late to claim still anothertriumph for Frenchphysiciansand sur- m i s t a k e sw; h a t r e a l l y h a p p e n e
geons,whosereachhasnow expandedin remotetime aswell as in remote e n t i s t s".
space. F o r t u n a t e l yt h, e r ei s a n o r h e r
The greatadvantage of this pictureis that it rendersvisible,tangible,and b y t h ew o r k t h a th a sb e e nc a n ' i
materialthe expenseat which it is possiblefor us ro think of rhe exrension of science. Kochbacilluscanbe e
in spaceof Koch'sbacillus,discovered(or invented,or mader-rp, or socially to the radicalanti-whiggishpos
c o n s t r u c t e di n) 1 8 8 2 L
. e t u s a c c e ptth e d i a g n o s iosi " o u r b r a v es c i e n t i s t sa"t To allow for suchan extenslon,s
facevalueandtakeit asa provedfactthat Ramsesdiedof tuberculosis. How laboratorywork. The mummy h
could he havedied of a bacillusdiscoveredin 1882and of a diseasewhose t a l , e x a m i n e db y w h i t e - c o a ts p
etiology,in its modernform, datesonly from 1819in Laênnec's rvard?Is it rayed,bonessterilizedwith cob
not anachronistic? The attribution of tuberculosisand Koch'sbacillusto practiceis quietly ignoredby the
RamsesII shouldstrike us as an anachronismof the samecaliberas if we tensron i n t i m ea si f i t w e r ea s i m
had diagnosedhis deathas having beencausedbv a Marxist upheaval,or strurnent,no specialiytrainedsu
a m a c h i n eg u n , o r a W a l l S t r e e tc r a s h I. s i t n o t a n e x r r e m ec a s eo f " w h i g - P n r i s - M a t c hp i c t u r ei s t h a t R a r
gish" history,transplantinginto the pasrrhe hiddenor porenrialexisrence feature:tubercr-rlosis. But none <
of the future?Surely,if we want to respectactors'categories, theremust be thernselves beexpandedor trans
in the Egyptian languagea term and a set of hieroglyphs,for instance other words,Koch'sbacillusma1

/ c h i n eg u n ,a M a r x i s tg u e r i l l ar n o v e m e n to, r a W a l l S t r e e tc a p i t a l i sbt a c kt o
@ a t l e a s tw , e s e e mt o b e t o r n b e t w e e nt w o o p p o s i t ep o s i t i o n sT. h e f i r s t o n e ,
# s a v es t a r t e d
rmses II,rvhoiellill threethousancl
m b e r1 9 5 6 )
-oo
late for an intervention.But
for Frenchphysiciansand sur-
errlotetime aswell as in rernote
rt it rendersvisible,tangible,and
' [ o r u s t o t h i n ko f t h ee x t e n s i o n
nvented,or madeup, or socially
n o s i so f " o u r b r a v es c i e n t i s t sa"t
a m s e sd i e do f t u b e r c u l o s iH s .o w
i n 1 8 8 2a n d o f a d i s e a s w e hose
r m 1 8 1 9i n L a ë n n e c 'ws a r d ?I s i t
erculosisand Koch'sbacillusto
ism of the samecaliberas if we
,usedby a Marxist upheaval,or
r not an extremecaseoi "whig-
h e h i d d e no r p o t c n t i ael x i s t e n c e
actors'categories, theremust be
et of hieroglyphs,for instance
Ë . t i s f i n s . r r r r / N o r r c " r i , s f ir r g O b i e c f s 219
" S a o d o w a o t "ht,h a td e f i n er h ec a u s eo f R a m s e sd' e a t h B . u t i f i t e x l s t si t i s s o
i n c o m m e n s u r a bw l ei t h o u r o w n i n t e r p r e t a t i o ntsh a t n o t r a n s l a t i o nc o u l d
possiblyreplaceit by "an infectionof Koch'sbacilh,rs." Koch bacillihavea
locah l i s t o r yt h a tl i m i t st h e m t o B e r l i na t t h e t u r n o f t h ec e n r u r yT. h e y r n a y
be allon'edto spreadto all the yearsthat cornen.ffer1882providedKoch's
clairnis accepted asa factand incorporatedlater into routine practices, but
c e r t a i n l yt h e y c a n n ojtu m p b a c kt o t h ey e a r sb e fo r e .
A n d y e t , i f w e i r n r n e d i a t e l dy e t e c t h e a n a c h r o n i s roni b r i n g i n ga m a -
t h e E g y p to f 1 0 0 08 . c . w , e s e e mt o s w a l l o ww i t h n o t s om u c h a sa g r . r l pt h e
e x t e n s i o no f t u b e r c u l o s itso t h e p a s t .M o r e e x a c t l y f, o r t l t i st y p e o f o b j e c t
w h i c hw o u l d b ea r a d i c a l l ya n t i - w h i g g i s hh i s t o r y ,i o r b i d su s f r o m e v e ru s -
i n g t h e e x p r e s s i o "nR a m s e sI I d i e do f t u b e r c u l o s i sa" sa m e a n i n g f u ls e n -
t e r r c eW . e a r e a l l o w e do n l y t o s a y t h i n g sl i k e " o u r s c i e n t i s t h
i n 7 9 7 6 t o i n t e r p r e tR a r n s e IsI ' s d e a t ha sh a v i n gb e e nc a u s e db y t u b e r c u -
l o s i sb u t , a t t h e t i m e .i t r v a si n t e r p r e t e da sb e i n gc a r - r s ebdy ' s a o d o w a o t h '
o r s o m es u c hw o r d .S a o d o w a o t ihs n o t a t r a n s l a t i o no f t u b e r c u l o s i T s .h e r e
i s n o w o r d t o t r a n s l a t ei t . T h e c a u s eo f R a r n s e s ' d e a ti sht h u s u n k n o w na n d
s h o u l dr e m a i n i r r e t r i e v a b l ei n a p a s t f r o r n w h i c h w e a r e i n f i n i t e l y d i s -
t a n t . "T h e s e c o n ds o l u t i o ni s a s o r t o f s e l f - c o n f i d e n lta, i d - b a c kw h i g g i s m
t h a t a c c e p t st u b e r c u l o s i sa n d K o c h ' sb a c i l l u sa s t h e l o n g - e x p e c e da n d
p r o v i s i o n a l l yf i n a l r e v e l a t i o no f w h a t h a s b e e na t w o r k a l l a l o n g i n t h e
c o u r s eo f h i s t o r y .S a o d o w a o tahn da l l s u c hg i b b e r i s hd i s a p p e aarss ol n a n y
m i s t a k e sw; h a t r e a l l yh a p p e n e di s e v e n t u a l l ye x p o s e db y " o u r b r a v es c i -
e n t i s t s".
Fortunately,thereis anothersolutionthat is revealedby this pictureand
by the work that hasbeencarriedout, ior a generationnow on the practrce
of science. Kochbacilluscanbe extendedinto the pastto be sure-contrary
to the r a d i c aal n t i - w h i g g i s hp o s i t i o n - , b u t t h i s c a n n o rb e d o n et t t t t o c o s t .
To allow for suchan extension,somework hasto be done,especiallysome
l a b o r a t o r yw o r k .T h e m u m m y h a st o b e b r o u g h ti n t o c o r t t t t cwt i t h a h o s p i -
tal, examinedby white-coat specialistsr-rnderfloodlights,the lungs X-
rayed,bonessterilizedwith cobalt60, and so on. All this labor-intensive
practiceis quietly ignoredby the whiggishposition,which speaksof the ex-
t e n s i o ni n t i m e a si f i t w e r ea s i m p l em a t t e t r e q u i r i n gn o l a b o r a t o r yn,o i n -
struûlent,no speciallytrainedsurgeon,no X rays.What is madeclearby the
P a r i s - M a t c hp i c t u r ei s t h a t R a m s e sI I ' s b o d y c a nb e e n d o w e dw r t h a n e w
i e a t u r e t: u b e r c u l o s i sB.u t n o n e o f t h e e l e m e n t sn e c e s s J rtyo p r o v ei t c a n
themselves be expandedor transportedbackto threethousandyearsago.In
other words,Koch'sbacillusmav travel in time, not the hospitalsurgeons,
 250 BRUNo L,\roLrR
f ,t I s f I r
n o r r h e X - r a y m a c h i n e ,n o f t h e s t e r i l i z a t i o no u t f i t .
When we impute oI the pictureshoi.t,n
retroactivelya modern shapedevent to the pastwe aboveis t
ha'e fo sortorf the t u r e ,a n de x t e n s i o n
fact-Koch bacillus'sdevastatingeffecton tl.r.lung-*ith in space mi
that of the ma- cases,
terial and practicalsetupnecessary rhe localsceneshotrld[.
to renderthe th.itvisible.It is only if we
believethat factsescLtpt' s o m es o r t o f e x t e n d e do r s t a n
their 'etwork of productio' that we arefaceâwith
the questionrvhetheror not RamsesII dieclof tuberculosis. p o s s i b l et o p r o n o u r l c teh e s e n
The problemappearsdifticult orriy for sortett/peofobjects o u t b r i n g i n gb a c ka l l t h e p r .
. ancro.ry for sentence.
the f l,rc dime'sion,c)bvio'slv no onecoultlho'L'th" rr,r.,"
worry fora ma- In other'"vords,
c h i n eg u n ,u n l e s sw e i n v e n ta t i r n ec a p s ' r eI.t i s i m p o s s i b lfeo r providt.dth,
u st o i m a g i ' e nologicalprojects,(2) we trea
t h a t a m a c h i n eg u n c o u l db e t r a n s p o r t e idn t o t h e p a s t .
T h u s ,t e c h n o l o g i c a r c o s r l rc' ,r r df r a g i l ea se x t e n s i u n
objectsdo not ha'e the samepopularontologynnà .un,..,o,
tra'el rrackinto to [.,ethe nrode]that rendersi nr
tJrep.as1 under any circumsrances, which ,orl'ht b. one wervof ,ouing ,t n,
the philosophyof technologyis a betterguidefor ontology o f p r o d u c t i o nt,h e n w e a r e f a c
it-rnn,t pf;itor- o u g h h i s t o r i c i z a t i onno t o n l r rc
o p h y o f s c i e n c eF'o rt e c h n o l o g yo,b j e c t s, . . , . , ' . r . o p . r h e "
c o n d i t i o nâ, f,h"i,
productions. An isolatedmachinegun in the remotepastls a pragrnatic i e c t sf / r , ' r r r - . c / i ,Bc ys .l e . r r n i r r ti l
ab- network accollntof realitr,tha
surdity-and so,by the way,is an isolated,.,'rochi,re gun in th" pr"l.,-rtwith-
out the k.ou'-ho*,, bullets, oil, repairmen,ancl logistics a nt i - w h i g g i s m h etaphvsirs.
,.,...rrury ,o
actir'ateit. Another adva'tageof a technological artifa-ctis that we haven,
d i f f i c u l t vi n i m a g i n i n gt h a t i t r u s t su * o y r n J , r i r a p p e a r s . P U R G I N GO U R A C C O U N T S
T h u si t a l * , a \ , sr e -
m a i n st i e d t o a c i r c u m s c r i b eadn d r v e i l - d e f i n esdp a t i o t e m p o r a r N E V E R ,A L W A Y S N
, OWHER
en'eiope.,
A n i s o l a t e dK o c hb a c i l l u si s a l s oa p r a g m a t i ca b s ur d i t y
s i n c et h o s et y p e so f To forn.rtrlate
factscannotescape the questionof thi
their networksof procluctioneither.yet *. ,..^ to b.-
lievethey can,because o f t h e p r o l o g u e( W h a t h a p p e n
for science, ,r,rilf n, science orrly,weforgetthe local, w r o n g l vg i v e nt o t h ec a r r s e , I, it.
materitri,trnd practical.ne*vo.ksthar acconrpanyartifacts
ii.ough th. beforeI8B2 and7976?1:
r v h o l ed u r a t i o no f t h e i rl i v e s .
of course,rvehavelearned,after readingsciencesrucries . Where were rhe objecs
of trllsorts,thirt tht
frrctsca.nnot, evenlry the wildestimaginati"on, escape t h e i r l i m i t e da n dh i s r o r i c i i l l l
their Ioc.'rl concliti,ns
of production.We now know that even to verifv sLrch . W h e r ew e r et h eo h l e c r s
a uniye,rsalfirctas rl.'r
gravitationwe needsomehorvto connectthe local c i s i v ea n dn o l o n g e rh i s t o r i c a
scenervith a laboratory
t h r o t r g ht h ec r u c i a l m e d i r . romf m e t r o l o g ya n ds t a r r d a r d i z a t i o n . A n c l
v e t ,w e I n ' i l l n o t t r y t o a n s w e rt h e s e
r a r e l yb e l i e v et h i s t o b e t h e c a s ei n t h e r , , o f e . f r f r r r . c - t h e r e
s e e m s ' rboe a logicallevel,3rvhichI couldcall ,,
time when rhe Kochbacillusproliferaresevervwhere
without bacteriolog- r i a i i s r n l - i n w h i c ht ] r er r o r i o nts
i c a ll a b o r a t o r i e s - a n di n t h e ' c r r r o f cp n s t - t h e r e
s e e m st o b en o n e e cfr, r a t h e d o m i n a n tr o l e .M v g o a li n t h j
ne*vork ro artachRamsesII to a diagnosis. unlike technologicalartifacts,
scie.tificf.rctsseem,onc.ewe wanderawayirom t]relocal s o p h i c a Il .s i m p l yw a n t i o d i gn l . ,
conitio',, of f .o- d e di n w h a t c o u l db e c a l l e dt h e , ,
ductionin the pastaswellasin the fr.rtr-rre,io fr.. themselvesirorn trreirspa-
tioternporalenvelope.Inertiaser'n1s science s t u d i e sN . ot that I want r
to takeoverirt no cost.The gre;rtlesson
estedirr mappinga corlmon gror
2 . E x c e p ti n t h r F r a n k e n s t e j n i i rnni g l t t n t â r e sS. e em 1 ,
,'{rrrnrio s r i/rc Lo.,r,olIt,r/rno/c,Srl, i t t fe r n t e t l i n r yb e t w e e nt h e p r a c t i
rransC . a t h e r i n eP o r . t e(rC a n r b r i d g e : H a l , , a rUc nl r v e r s i t l ,p r e s s ,
1 9 9 6 ) .O n t h e l a v e r r n gi r s p e c t
o i t e c h n o l o g i es e et h t n r l r . r . e l , , r n
5 ( ) \ , 1 [. r1' R i c h , r r dp u r ' c r . sG
. ( 7 [ r r c ,]r.72 ( N e r r , ) b r k :
F,rrrac - 1 .F o r t h j s s e e r n v p r l r i , / o r a . j H r ) p r r
S r r . r u s s . r nCtilr i l u r I Q u 5L Er
H i r r v a r d U n i v e r s i t v p r e s s ,1 9 9 9 1 .
 E r i s f i n I r r l i i N o r rr , r i s t i r r g O b j r ' L fs 251

ation outfit. When we irnpute o i t h ep i c t u r es h o w na b o v ci s t h a te x t e n s i o n i n t h ep a s t e , xtension i n t h ef u -

he past r.t'ehave fo sorf olrf the t u r e ,a n de x t e n s i o ni n s p a c e l n a v r e q u i r et h e : ç r i r rtryep eo f l a b o rI.n t h et h r e e
r t h e l u n g - w i t l r t h a to f t h e m a - cases, the localsceneshouldbe hookedup to laboratorypracticethrouglr
er the firctvisible.It is only ii we somesort of extendedor standardized or lnetrologizednetwork.It is im-
roductionthat we are facedwith possible t o p r o n o u r l c teh e s e n t e n c "eR a r n s e IsI d i e do i t u b e r c u l o s i sw" i t h -
I of tuberculosis. o u t b r i n g i n g b a c k i ' r l lt h c p r a g n r a t i c o r r d i t r o n tsh a r g i v e r r u r h t o r h i s
o m e t y p eo f o b j e c t sa n do n l y i o r sentence.
l d h a v et h es a m ew o r r y l ' o ra m a - In other wor ds,providedthat (1) we treat all scientificobjectslike tech-
l t i si m p o s s i b lf eo r L r st o i m a g i n e n o l o g i c apl r o j e c t s(,2 ) w e t r e a ta l l e x p a n s i o ni n t i r n t ' i r sb e i n ga s d i f f i c u l t ,
n t o t h e p a s tT . h u s ,t e c h n o l o g i c a l c o s t l l 'a, n df r a g i l ea se x t e n s i o nisn s p a c ea,n d1 : 1w e c o n s i d esr c i e n cset u d i e s
l o g y a n dc a n n o t r a v e ll r d c ki n t o to bethe modelthat rendersirrtl:ttssible the escape of a factfrom its network
n i g h t b e o n e w a y o f s a y i n gt h a t o i p r o d u c t i o nt,h e n w e a r e f a c e dw i t h a n e w o n t o l o g i c apl u z z l e t: h e t h o r -
i d ef o r o n t o l o g yt h a nt h ep h i l o s - o u g h h i s t o r i c i z a t i onno t o n l v o f t h e , / i s c o t , c ro1i7o b . i e c t sb,u t o f t h o s eo l r -
-rer escilpe the conditionsof their j e c t sf / l c i i l s e / i r cB
s .) ' l e a r n i n gt h e l e s s o no f t h i s p i c t u r ew, e r n i g 6 tp r o v i d ee r
]e reûlotepastis a pragmaticab- network âccoLrnt of realitv that wor-rldescapeboth whiggish and radical
n a c h i n eg u n i n t h e p r e s e nw t ith- anti-whiggish metaphl,srcs.
, e n , a n d l o g i s t i c sn e c e s s a r vt o
ogicalartifactis that we haveno
O F F O U RA D V E R B S :
P U R G I N GO U R A C C O U N T S
nd disappears. Thus it alwaysre-
l N E V E R ,A L W A Y S N
, O W H E R EE. V E R Y W H E R E
fined spatiotemporalenvelope.
i c a b s u r d i t ys i n c et h o s et y p e so f o f t h i se s s a vl e t m e g e n e r a l i zteh et l v oq u e s t i o n s
T o f o r m u l a t et h e q u e s t r o n
:rctioneither.Yet we seemto be- of the prologue(What happenedafrer7976 to "Saodowaoth,"the narne
sciettcc t'tnly,we forgetthe locarl, w r o n g l ys i v e nt o t h e c a u s eo f R a m s e sd' e a t h7W h e r ew e r et h e K o c hb a c i l l i
- o n r p a n yi . r r t i f a c ttsl r r o u g h t h e b e f o r c1 8 8 2a n d1 9 7 6 ? ) :
. Where were the objectsthat no longer exist when they existedin
q sciencestudiesof all sorts,that
t h e i rl i r n i t e da n dh i s t o r i c a l l yc r o o k e dw t r v s?
o n ,e s c a p teh e i rl o c a lc o n d i t i o r r s . W h e r ew e r et h e o b j e c t st h a t n o w e x i s tb e i o r et h e y a c q u i r e d
t h i sd e -
r verifv such a urriversalfact as
c i s i v ea n dn o l o n g e rh i s t o r i c i rml o d eo I e x i s t e n c7e
he localscenewith a laboratorl,
, r r ds t a n d a r d i z r t i o n . . Ay ne dt ,n e I w i l l n o t t r y t o a n s w e rt h e s eq u e s t i o n sa t t h e p h i l o s o p h i c a, rl n do n t o -
o t ef t t t t r r e - t h e r es e e r . rt.or sb e a l o g i c alle v e l , 3w h i c hI c o u l dc a l l" h i s t o r i c , rrle a l i s r . n " - n o t h i s t o r i c aml a t e -
, e r y w h c r ew i t h o u tb a c t e r i o l o g - r i a l i s ml - i n w h i c h t h e n o t i o n so f e v e n t sr,e l a t i o n sa, n dp r o p o s i t i o npsl a y
- t h e r es e e m st o b e n o n e e df o r a the dornirrantrole.lvly goalin this essay, althor"rgh theoretical,is not philo-
;. Unlike technologicrrl artifacrs, s o p h i c a Il .s i m p l l ,w a n tt o d i go t r tt h et h e o r vo f " r e l a t i v ee x i s t e n c ee"m b e d -
from the localconditionsof pro- d e di n r v h a tc o u l dl , e c a l l e dt h e " b e s tp r a c t i c e o" f h i s t o r i a n so i s c i e n c a end
r freethemselvesfrom their spa- s c i e n c se t u d i e sN . o t t h a t I w a n t t o g i v e t h e m a l e s s o nI. a r n s i m p l y i n t e r -
o v e ra t n o c o s tT. h e S r e a lt e s s o r l estedin rlirpping a corrllnonground,a corrlrnonvocaL.tr-tlary, that rvouldbe
i t t t e r m e d t t r yL ' t e n v e et hne p r a c t i c eo f h i s t o r i c anl a r r a t i v ei n t h e s o c i ahl i s -
m \ ' , ' l r r r i n r , ço r f / r c ,L o i ' t ' t r f 1 ? ' c h n o l o , q r r
, i t v P r e r s .I q g o r .O r r t h e l r r e r i n g . r r p u . t
P o r v e r s ,C l r t / r l f r ' r2r . 2 l N e l t ' Y o r k : F a r r e r . 3 . F o r t h i s s e em v P r r l l r i o r r rI' sJ o p t ' rE s s n r Ttsr t t l t t ' R e L t l i t tol f - S c i , ' r t c e , S t l r di C
i casm b r i d g e :
H i r r v a r dU n i v e r s i n 'P l e s s ,l ! l c l 9J .
252 BRUNO I-A'IOUR Ë-ti-çti

t o r y o f s c i e n coen t h eo n eh a n da n dt h eo n t o l o g i c rqr lu e s t i o n tsh a ta r er a i s e d o r m o r e e . \ a c t l yt o h r v e e x i s t

b y t h i sp r a c t i c e o n t h e o t h e r .M y i d e ai s s i m p l yt h a t i n t h e l a s tt w e n t yv e a r s where,the epistemological qr-
historiansof science hrrveraisedenoughproblems,monsters,and pr-rzzles, factsand bansit for nonhum,r
s u c ha st h a to i R a m s e sI I ' sc a u s eo i d e a t h t, o k e e pp h i l o s o p h e r m s ,e t , r ç r h y s r - C o n t r a r yt o t h i s p o p u l a rv e
c i a n sa, n ds o c i atlh e o r i s t sb u s yf o r d e c a d eTs h . e r r rl d d l cg r o l tr l dI r ' v a ntto e x - b e s a i dt h a t t h e n e w s o c i a ol r
p l o r eh e r ec o u l da t l e a s tp r e v e n tu s f r o m a s k i n gt h e w r o n gq u e s t i o n os f t h e q r ' l r ' in / i : n fi o r t o . fh i s t o r i c i t r r
h i s t o r i c anl a r r a t i v e sa t h a n d ,a n d s h o u l dh e l p f o c t r so u r r t t e n t i o n o n n e w and psychologrcal agerrcy,ro
questionshitherto iriddenby tlre iierceciebates benveenrealismand rei,r- w o r s h i p e l sw, i l l a s k t h e q u e s
tivism. will requirePouchet1tlhs1'glrr
To give sornefleshto the theoreticalquestionsraisedhere,I will ttse,not Pasteur's findings-under the
r h ec a s eo f R a r n s eIsI ( a r b o uwt h i c h I d o n o t k n o n ' e n o u g h )b, u t t h e c l e b a t e s a t i v ee x i s t e n c ies e x a c t l vr v h a
betweenPilsteurand PouchetovL'rspontaneous generation.I do not wish tory; it is alsowhat lve takefor
hereto addanything to its historiography,but to useit preciselvbecause it t h e s o c i aal n d t e c h n i c ael v e n r
i s s ow e l l k n o w nt h a t i t c a nb e u s e cal sa c o n v e n i e ntto p o sf o r a l l r e a d e r s . t p u t i n t o t h e P r o c r u s t e abne do l
W h a t i s r e l a t i v ee x i s t e n c ei ? t i s a n e x i s t e n cteh a t i s n o l o n g e rf r a m e db y r s t i n gs o r n e w h aitr,r v i n gI l r t
t h e c h o i c eb e t w e e nn e v e ra n d n o w h e r eo n t h e o n e h a n d ,a n d a l r v a y sa n d time,havingpredecessors and :
everywhereon the other.If we startby havingto choosebetweenthesepo- l i n e a t i n gt h e s p a t i o r e n l p o rearl
s i t i o n si m p o s e du p o n u s b y t h e t r t r d i t i o n af lo r n r t r l a t i o nosf t h e p h i l o s o p h y o i t e r m sa n de r p r e s s i o ntsh t l rs l
o f s c i e n c ew,e c a n n o th o p et o f u l f i l t h e g o a l so f t h i s b o o k .P o u c h e t 'ssp o n t a - {eneration i t s e l f a n di o r t h eg e
n e o u sg e n e r a t i o n w i l l h a v en e t ' c 'br e e nt h e r ea n y u , h e r ei n t h e w o r l d ;i t w a s L e t m e t r y î v e r y s k e t c h lh
a n i l l u s i o na l l a l o n g ;i t i s n o t a l l o n ' e dt o h a v eb e e np a r t o f t h e p o p u l a t i o no f s v m m e t r i c ahl i s t o r i c i z t r t i o n S
e n t i t i e sr l a k i n g u p s p à c ea n d t i n r e .P a s t e u r ' ise r m e n t sc i r r r i e dL t vt h e a i r ; tant phenon-renon in a Europec
however,have rrla,rry,. been there. all along, ai,cryu,ltr'ra, and have been nomenoneveryonecouldeasi
bonafide membersof the populationof entitiesrnakingup spaceand time phenomenom n a d em o r ec r e d
long beforePtrsteur. To Lresure,historianscantell us a iervamusingthin5is s c o p eP. a s t e u r 'd' se n i a lo f i t s c x
on why Pouchetand his supportersrvrongly believedin the existenceof n a r r o wc o n f i n eos f t h e r u ed ' U l
spontaneous generation,andwhy Pasteurfumbleda few yearsbeforefind- t o p r e v e n tr v h a th e c a l l e d" g e r
irrgthe right rrnswer, but the tracingof thosezigzagsgivr'sus no ne\t'essen- flasks.When reproducedin Rc
t i à l i n f o r n r . r r r oor rn t h e e n t i t i e si n q u e s t i o n A . lthuughtht'r'provide a n d t h e n e r vb o d i l ys k i l l sw e r e
i n f o r m a t i o no n t h e s u b j e c t i v i t ya n d h i s t o r v o f l t u n r a r ta g e n t sh, i s t o r y o f Paristo Normandy and sponta
science,in such a rendering,doesnot provide any other inforrnationon flasksas readily as before.Pas
w h t r tm a k e st t p r t o n l t r t n t r npa r t u r eB . v a s k i n ga n o n h u m a ne n t i t v t o q v i q l - c o m m o np h e n o m e n o n irom sp
t . . \{' f' , r s i r ) ul f l a b o r a t o r yp r i c r i
sary."Finally,"the wholeof ern
- 1 .J o h n F a r l e l ' ", T h e S p o n t a n e o u G s t ' n t ' r a t i o nC o n t r o v e r s ' " ' 1 7 0 0 l 8 6 0 : T h c O r i g i n o I
i c i n e ,b y r e l y i n g o n r h i s n e \
P .rra s i t i cW o r r n s, " l o u r n n lo i t h r ' H r s l o r 'o. vf 6 i o l o g v5 ( 1 9 7 2) :9 5- 1 l r ; I o h np . t 1 . t .1 / 1 e- Ç p o r r -
f . i r ? r , r ) uCsr ' / l r ' r r l l r t l rC o n f r o i ' t r s yf r r l l I ) t s c r i r l e si r r L ) | r t r i n ( B a l t i m o r r ']:o h n sH o p k i n sU n i - g e n e r a t i o nw, h i c h ,u s i n gt h e p a
v r ' r s i t y P r e s s ,1 9 7 - l ) ;G er ; r l d G e i s o n , l - h L ' P r i i ' r t cf - Ç r : i i ' t t r,cr f L o t t t s P r r scf t t r ( P r i n c c t o n : t h i n g t h a t ,a l t h o u g hi t h a d b e e
P r i n c c t o nU n i v e r s i t v P r c ' s s , 1 9 9 5 )R; i c h r r d l v { o r t ' a u ", L e s e x p é r i e n c e d s e P a s t e t t rs u r l t ' s n o w a b e l i e fi n a p h e n o m e n o n t
g e n é r a t i o n s p o n t a n é e sL:e p o i n t d t ' r ' u ed ' u n m i c r o b i o l o q i s t t ' .p"a r t s I ( " L a f i n d ' u n I n v t h e " )
w o r l d .T h i s e x p u l s i o nt r r r de r a
a n , 11 ( " L e sc o n s é q L r e n c eLs r" tli , i , ' r i l ' s c i c t t r , 9' s,n o . I ( 1 c ) 9 1 ) : 2 3 1 - 6 0 ; n- {o( .1 9 9 1 1 ; l S 7 - 3 l l ;
B n r n o L a t o u r ," P a s t e uar n L P l o u c h c t : T h r ' I I e t e r o g e n e soifst h e H i s t r r r vo I S c i c n c r ' ,i"n H i s t o r 1 l textbooks,the making of histo
o f S c i c n t i [ i c T h o r r gehdt ,.N { i c h t 'Sl e r r e s( L o n d o nB: l a c k r v c l ] , 1 9 9 5 1 , 5 2 6 - 5 5 . tions from universitiesto the
 E - r i s t i r ? l i r i n d N o r r e r i s f i r r g O b . ie c f s 253

, i c a l c l u e s t i otnhsa ta r er a i s e d or more exactlyto haveexisted-either ne!'er-nowhere or alrvays-every-

t h a ritn r h el a s tt w e r r t yy e a r s n ' h e r et,h e e p i s t e m o l o g i ccallu e s t i o ini m i t s h i s t o r i c i t vt o h u r n a n sa n da r t i -
.enls,monsters,an.l puzzles, f i r c t sa n db a n si t f o r n o n h u m a n s .
e pp hi l o s o p h e rm s ,e t a p h y s i - Contraryto this popularversionof the role of history rn science, it could
: n r i d t l l eg r o u r r rIl w a n t t o e x - be saidthat the new socialor cultural history of scienceis definedby the
gthe'"vronq g u e s t i o n os f t h e gertt'rttlizatiort ct.fltistttriclry,usuallygrirntedonly to social,technological,
f o c u so u r a t t e n t i o no n n e w and psr,'chological agencv,to natural agencies.No one, even his French
's Lretween realisrl and rela- rvorshipers, will ask the question,"Wl.rerewas PasteLrr [refore\822?" Or
w i l l r e q u i r eP o u c h etto h a v eb e e nn o n e x i s t e nitn 1 8 6 4 - w h e n h e d i s p u t e s
'nsraisedhere,I will use,nor Pasteur's findings-under the pretextthat he wasdefeatedby Pasteur. Rel-
c w e n o u g h )b, u t t h e c l e b a t e s ativeexistenceis exactlywhat we ;1reusedto dealingwith in human his-
u s g e n e r a t i o nI.d o n o t l v i s h tory; it is alsowhat we takefor grantedior technological artifacts.None of
t o ( r s ei t p r e c i s e l b
ient toposfor all readers.+
v e c i r u siet t h e s o c i aal n d t e c h n i c , ,ervl e n t sm a k i n gu p a h i s t o r i c anl a r r r l t i v eh a v et o b e
put into the Procrr-rstean bedof never-nowhere or allvarvs-everywhere. Ex-
,t
: that is no longerfrrrmedby isting sornewhat,having a little realitv occupyinga definitiveplaceancl
e one hand,and alwaysand time,havingpredecessors and successor's: thosearethe normal waysof de-
to chooseL.retween thesepo- lineiltingthe spatiotemporal envelopeof history.Theseareexacrlyrhekind
n u l i r t i o n so f t h e p h i l o s o p h y o f t e r m sa n de x p r e s s i o nt h s a ts h o u l db eu s e df,r o m n o w o n ,i o r s p o nt a n e o u s
t h i s b o o k .P . r u c h e t s' sp o n t a - q e n e r a t i o int s e l fa n d f o r t h eg e r m sc r r r r i e b d y t l i ea i r .
t y i p l l s v ,i n t h e w o r l d ;i t w a s Let me try a verv sketchyhistorr,', the narrativeof which relieson this
l e n p a r to f t h e p o p u l a t i o no f s y m m e t r i c ahl i s t o r i c i z a t i o nS.p o n t a n e o ugse n e r a t i o nr v a sa v e r y i m p o r -
ferrnentscarriedby the arç tant phenomenonin a Europedevoidol refrigeratorsand preserves, a phe-
: t , c r r 1 u , h e Taen,d h a v eb e e n nomenoneveryonecor"rld easilyreproducein one'skitchen,an undisputed
s r t r i r k i n 5uip s p a c ea u d t i n r e p h e n o m e n om n a d em o r ec r e d i b l et h r o u g ht h e d i s s e m i n a t i oonf t h e m i c r o -
: e l lu sa i e w a n r u s i n e things s c o p eP. a s t e u r 'cs. l e n i ior fl i t s e x i s t e n c eo,n t h e c o n t r a r ve x i s t e do n l y i n t h e
L.telieved in the existenceof n r r r r o wc o n i i n e os f t h e r u ed ' U l m l a b o r â t o r yâ,n do n l y i r r s o f aar sh e w a sa b l e
bleda few yearsbeforefind- to preventwhat he called"germs" carriedby the air to enter the culture
; z a g sg i v e su s n o n e we s s e n - flasks.When reproducedin Rouen,by Pouchet,the new materialculture
n. .A,lthoughthey pror.'ide and the new bodily skillswere so fragilethat they couldnot migratefrom
f l t t n t t t t tat g e n t sh, i s t o r v o f P a r i st o N o r m a n d va n d s P e 1 1 1 3 n g g oeuns e r i r t i o pn r o l i f e r a t e icnl t h e b o i l e d
i l n y o t h e r i n f o r m a t i o no n t-lasks as readily aisbefore.Pasteur'ssuccesses in u.ithtlrttwirrgPouchet's
r c l n h u m a ne n t i t y t o e x i s t - c o m m o np h e n o m e n o fnr o m s p a c e - t i r nree q u i r e da g r a d u a l a n dp u n c t i l i o u s
extensionof laboratorypracticeto eachsite and eachclairnof his adver-
sarv."Finally," the wholeof emergingbacteriology, agribusiness, andmed-
e r s r - I l 0 0 - l b o U :T h e U I i ( : n , , 1 '
l 1 : : ) 5 l l - 5 ; I o h n F r r l e y ,7 - l r c- Ç p o r -
icine, Lrv relying on this new set of practices,eradicatedspontaneous
r r l B a l t i r n o r eJ:o h n sH o p k i n sU n i - generation,rvhich,usingthe pastperfect,they hadtransforr.ned into some-
r..' of loriis Pristcll lPrinceton: t h i n g t h a t ,a l t h o u g hi t h a d b e e na c o m m o no c c u r r e n c tco r c e n t u r i e sw, , r s
's !'xpérienced s e P i r s t e u rs u r l e s n o w a b e l i e ii n a p h e n o m e n o n t h a t " h a dn e v e r "e x i s t e d" a n y w h e r e "i n t h e
; t r . . "p a r t s1 1 " L r f i n d ' , u nu r v t h e " )
l ) : 1 . 3 1 - 6 0n; o . - 1( 1 9 9 2 )1: 8 7 3 2 1 ;
world. This expulsionand eradication,howeve4requiredthe writing of
: h r 'H i s t or v o f S c i c n c e" ,i n H i , çf o r V textbooks,the making of historicalnarratives,the setupof many institu-
, 19t)5),546_55 t i o n s f r o m u n i v e r s i t r e tso t h e P a s t e u rN { u s e u m M . uch work had to be
l3 -| BRUNO LATOUR Ë,risfirr

done-has still to be done,as we will seebelow-to maintain Pouchet's / r r i .tço b e d o n e ,d a i l y ,t o a c r i v a

c l a i ma sa b e l i e fi n a n o n e x i s t e npt h e n o m e n o n . a l l , t h e R a d i c ap l ilrtv disappe
I put "finally" irltovein quotationmarks,becattse if, to this da1',1'out.- m a s s i v ei n v e s t m e n t si n d e n t o c
producePouchet'sexperimentin a defectivemanner,by being,for instance to be taught,practiced,kept up,
like me, a poor experimentetnot linking your bodily skills and material that, i..rt somepoint in historr,,I
c u l t u r et o t h es t r i c td i s c i p r l i noef a s e p s iasn dg e r mc u l t u r el e , r r n e idn m i c r o - phenornenathat harvebeenso ,
b i o l o g yl a b o r a t o r i e tsh, e p h e n o m e n a s u p p o r t i n gP o u c h e t 'csl a i m sw ' i l ls t i l l " d e f i n i t e l y "e x i s t st h i s d o e sn c
appear.5 Pasteurians of coursewill callit "contamination," andif I warrtedto d e n t l y o f a l l p r a c t i c ea n d d i s c i
p u b l i s ha p a p e rv i n d i c a t i n gP o u c h e t ' sc l a i m sa n d r e v i v i n g h i s t r a d i t i o n c o s t l Va n dm a s s i v ei t t s t i t t r t i t ut lt
b a s e do n r n y o b s e r v a t i o nnso o n ew o u l dp u b l i s hi t . B u t i f t h ec o l l e c t i vbeo d y g r e a tc a r e( s e el r e l o r v )T. h i s i s a
o f p r e c a u t i o n st h, e s t a n d a r d i z a t i otnh,e d i s c i p l i n i n gl e a r n e di n P a s t t ' u r i a n by ciemocrats lvl.rosawthe Thir
laboratorieswere to be interrupted,not only by me,the badexperimenter, a n db y t h e h i s t o r i a n sw h o s a u 'r,,
b u t b y a w h o l eg e n e r r r t i oonf s k i l l e dt e c h n i c i a n st h, e n t h e d e c i s i o na b o u t i n F r e r n c e" i.n e r t i r r , "o l . t v i o n s l
w h o l v o na n cw l h o l o s tw o u l db em a d eu n c e r t a i na g a i n . As o c i e t yt h a tw o u l d c o nt r o v e r s i e s .
no longer know ho."vto cultivate microbesand control contamination
would havedifficulty in judging the claimsof the two adversaries of 1864.
DEI\4ARCATIONIS THE ENEI
Thereis no point in history wherea sort of inertialforcec,tnbe countedon
to takeover the hard work of scientistsarrdrelay it ior eternity.{'For scien- Horv can we now rnâp the t\r'o d

t i s t st h e r ei s n o S e v e n t hD a y I w i t h o u ta p p e a l i ntgo t h et w o c l r a
W h a t i n t e r e s t sm e h e r ei s n o t t h e a c c u r a c o v f t h i s a c c o u n tb, u t r a t h e r F a s o lot f a l w a y s - e v e r y w h eir e D
t h e À o n r o g e r t e i toyf t h e n a r r a t i v el v i t h o n e t h a t w o u l d h i r v ed e s c r i b e cf ol ,r a t i v i s n r t n dc l a i mt h i r tb o t ha r g u
i n s t a n c et ,h e r i s eo f t h e r a d i c apl r a r t yf r, o m o b s c u r i t yu n d e rN a p o l e o nI I I t o and temporal,trndthr-rscannotb
prominence i n t h eT h i r d R e p u b l i co, r t h e e x p a n s i o n o f D i e s ee l n g i n e si n t o given enoughtime, to revisethe
s u b m a r i n e sT.h e d e m i s eo f N a p o l e o nI I I d o e sn o t m e a r lt h a t t h e S e c o n d two drrrgonsclairn,or more exalc
E m p i r en e v e re x i s t e dn; o r d o e st h e s l o w e x p u l s i o no f I ' o u c h e t ' s p o l l t â - b o a s to, n l y a n u n d i f i e r e n t i a t es(
n e o u sg e n e r a t i o nb v P a s t e u m r e a nt h a t i t w a s n e T e rp a r t o f n a t u r e .I n t h e oncedemocracy, commonsense(
sameway that we couldstill, to this day,meetBonapartists, althoughtheir way, accordingto them, to esca
c h a n c eo I b e c o m i n gp r e s i d e nits n i l , I s o m e t i m e m s e e ts p o n t a n e o ugse n e r - and localityevery factthat hasbt
a t i o nb u f f sr v h od e f e n dP o u c h e t 'csl a i mb y l i n k i n gi t , f o r i n s t a n c et o , prebi- n o n h i s t o r i c anla t u r ew h e re i t l . r a
o t i c sa n dw h o w a n t t o r e w r i t eh i s t o r ya g a i n a , l t h o u g ht h e y n e v e rm ânage b y a n y s o r to f r e v i s i o nD . entnrc
to get their "revisionist" paperspublished.Both gror.rpshave now been t h i s r e a s o nh, i s t o r i c i t yi s t h e nm r
p u s h e dt o t h e f r i n g e ,b u t t h e i r m e r ep r e s e n c ies a n i n t e r e s t i n gi n d i c a r t i o n a n d e n r p e r o r sw,h i l e n a t u r ei s p
t h a t t h e " f i n a l l y " t h a t a l l o w e cpl h i l o s o p h e rosi s c r e n c ei n, t h e f i r s t m o d e l , phenomena t h a t c l u t t e rH e r .I n t
definitivelyto cleanthe world of entitiesthat havebeenprovedwrong was a way for hurnansto access nonl
t o o b r u t a l .N o t o n l y i s i t b r u t a l ;i t a l s oi g n o r e st h e m a s so f w o r k t h a t s t i l l a r y ,a n e c e s s a reyv i l ,b u t i t s h o u l
ers,a durablemodeof existencef,
5.lhadthechanceinlgg2forthenventy-frfthanniversaryofnrvcentertoredothoseex- The.seclaims,althor"rgh thev
p e r i m e n t si n t h e c o m p a n vo f S i m o n S c h a f f e rS . e e t h e e s s a - ivn t h i s v o l u m e b y H a n s - J ô r g dangerous. Dangerous,becausei
Rhernberger.
o f k e e p i n gu p r h e i n s t i t u t i o n st h
6 . S e et h e i n t c r e s t i n gn o t i o no f " g r e y b o r e s "i n K a t h l e e nJ o r d a na n d I r { i c h a eLl v n c h ," T h e
N ' l a i n s t r e a m i nogf a M o l e c u l i r rB i o l o g i c a l T o o l , "J e c û r i o l o g yi r r t V o r k i r l gO r d c r ; - S f r r , l i cosl
d u r a b l ee x i s t e n c er .e l ; , ni g i n s r e
l , V o r , (l r, r t c r r r c t i tot , , t n t l T c t h n r r l o ge, yd,.C . B u t t o n ( L o n d o n :R o L r t l e d g e1,9 9 3 ) . m o r ei m p o r r a n t l yf o r t h i s b o o k ,t
 E - r - i si fr E . i , r r l N o r rc " r i s t l r r g O l r l e c f s 255

[orn,-to maintain Pouchet's /rrlsto be clorre, daily',to activ.rtethe "definitive" versionof history.After
all, the Radicalparty disappeared, as dld the Third Republic,for lack of
ecauseif, to this day,you re- massiveinvestmentsin democraticculture',which, like microbiology,has
r.lnneLby being,for instirnce to L.te taught,prilcticed,kept r,rp,sunk in. It is ahvaysdarrgerous to imagine
rr bodily skills and mare-rial t h a t ,a t s o m ep o i n t i n h i s t o r y ,i t t t ' r t i ai s e n o u g ht o k e e pu p t h e r e a l i t yo f
r m c r r l t u r lee a r n e d in rnicro- p h e n o m e n at h a t h a v et ' e e ns o d i f f i c u l tt o p r o d u c eW . hen a phenomenon
ng Pouchet'sclaimsrvill still " d e t i n i t e l y "c ' x i s t st h i s d o e sn o t n r e a nt h a t i t e x i s t sf o r e v e r o, r i n d e p e n -
Lminationa , "n di f I w a n t e dt o d e n t l y o f a l l p r a c t i c ea n d d i s c i p l i n eb, u t t h a t i t h a s b e e ne n t r e n c h e di n a
; and reviving his tradition c o s t l ya n dm a s s i v ei r t s t i t u t i o rt rh a t h a st o b e m o n i t o r e da n dp r o t e c t e w d ith
h i t . B u t i f t h ec o l l e c t i vbeo d y g r e a tc a r e( s e et r e l o w )T. h i s i s a l e s s o nt h i r tw a sl e a r n e dt h e h a r dr v a yb o t h
l i n i n g l e a r n e tiln P a s t e u r i a n by c{emocrats who sarvthe Third Republicflounderin the handsof Vichy,
)y me, the badexperimenteç andby the historianswho saw,to their dismay,the negationistsgain credit
a n s ,t h e n t h e d e c i s i o na b o u t i n F r i r n c e".l n e r t i a , " o [ . , v i o r . r s\l.ya,s n o p r o t e c t i o nr r g a i n srt e o p e n r n go f
n a g a i nA. s o c i e t yt h a tw o u l d controversies.
a n d c o n t r o lc o n t a r n i n a t i o n
the tlvo adversaries of tSO+.
'rtial forcecanbe countedon I S T H E E N E M YO F D I F F E R E N T I A T I O N
DEMARCAÎION

ay it for eternity.6For scren-
y o f t h i s â c c o u n rb, u t r , r t h e r
at would havedescribed, for
r u r i t y u n d e rN a p o l e o nI I I t o
n s i o no i D i e s eel n g i n e isn r o
3 not ûreanthirt the Second
u l s i o no f P o u c h e t ' s p o n t a -
nei,erpart of nature.In the
3 o n a p a r t i s tas l,t h o u g ht h e i r
e sm e e ts p o n t â n e o ugse n e r -
:ingit, for instance,to prebi-
I t h o u g ht h e y n e v e rm a n a g e
oth groups have now been
i s a n i n t e r e s t i n gi n d i c a t i o n
f science, in the first model,
Lavebeenprovedwrong was
; t h e m a s so f w o r k t h a t s t i l l
s a r y o f m y c e n t e rt o r e d ot h o s ee x -
; s a yi n t h i s v o l u m e b y H a n s - J i i r g
: n J o r d a na n d M i c h a e lL y n c h ," T h e
r g v i r l . V o r k i r r gO r d e r : S t : i d i t so f
Rout)edge,1993).
How canwe now map the two destiniesof Pasteur'sand Pouchet'sclairns
without appealingto the two dragons,the Faffner of never-nowhere andthe
Ftrsoltof aiw,rys-everlrlvhgre ? Do we haveto embracea sir.nplemindecl rel-
ativismandclaimthat both ârgumentsarehistorical,contingent,localized,
and temporal,and thus cannotbe differentiated,eacl.r of them being able,
g i v e ne n o u g ht i l r e , t o r e v i s et h e o t h e ri n t o n o n e x i s t e n c eT?h i s i s w h a t t h e
two dragonsclairn,or r11ore exactlyroar threateningly.WithoLrtthem,they
boast,only an undifferentiatedseaoi equalclaimswill appeatengulfingat
oncedemocracy, commonsense,decency, morality,andnature. . . The only
way,accordingto them, to escaperelativismis to rvithdrawfrom history
and localityevery frrctthat hasbeenprovenright, and to stockit safelyin a
n o n h i s t o r i c anla t u r ew h e r ei t h a sa l l v a v sb e e na n dc a nn o l o n g e rb e r e a c h e c l
b y a n y s o r to f r e v i s i o nD . e n t s r c t t t i o rfto, r t h e m ,i s t h e k e y t o v i r t u ea n d ,f o r
this reason,historicityis then maintainedonly [or humans,radicalpartres,
a n d e m p e r o r sl ,v h i l e n a t u r ei s p e r i o d i c a l l .pvu r g e do f a l l t h e n o n e x i s t e n t
p h e n o m e n tah a t c l u t t e rH e r .I n t h i s d e m a r c a t i o n i vs ite w h i s t o r yi s s i r n p l y
a w a y f o r h u m a n st o a c c e snso n h i s t o r i c anl a t u r e a , c o n v e n i e nitn t e r r n e d i -
ary,a necessârv evil,but it shouldnot be,accordingto the two dragonkeep-
ers,a durablemodeoi existenceior facts.
Theseclaims,although they are often made,are both inaccurateand
dangerous. Drrngerous, l.tecause, as I havesaid,they iorget to 1tttt1 the pricc
o i k e e p i n gL r pt h e i n s t i t u t i o n st h a t a r e n e c e s s a rfyo r m a i n t t r i n i n gf a c t si n
durableexistence,relying inste,rdon the free inertia of ahistoricity.But,
m o r ei m p o r t a n t l yf o r t h i sb o o k ,t h e y a r e i r r t t c c u r a tNeo. t h i n gi s e a s i etrh a n
 256 BRUNo LATouR
E.tlsf

to differentirirein greardetailthe claimsof pasreurand pouchet.This dif-

that is conce.ived of asthe c,r
ferentiiition,contraryto the claimsof our riery keepers, is rnadeevenmore a s s o c i a t i oann ds u b s t r t n t r o
t e l l i n go n c ew e a b a n d o nt h e b o a s t i n ga n d e m p t y p r i v i l e g et h e y w a n t f o r
associated w,ithnranvothr,rs
nonhumansover human events.Demarcationis herethe enemv of differ-
i n r e a l i t vi i o n r h e c o n r r a r v
e n t i a t i o nT. h et w o d r i r g o n b
s e h i r v lei k ee i g h t e e n t h - c e n r u ar yr i s r t c r a rw
s ho m . r n sa n d n o n h r r m a n sT. ;À. r
claimedthat civil societvwould crashif it was not solicllvheld urrbv therr
stagein rvhichhistoricitVrvi
noble spinesand was delegatedinsteadto the hurnbl" ri,ould.r, oi-u.,y
t o r i c i t y ,a n d n a t u r a l r
c o m m o n e r sI.t h a p p e n st h a t c i v i l s o c i e t yi s a c t u a l l yr a t h e rb e t t e rm a r n -
b l a c k - b o x i n gs ,o c i a l i z a t i oinn
t a i n e db v t h e m a n v s h o u l d e ros f c i t i z e n st h a nL . , tvh e A t l a s - l i k ec o n t o r r i o n s
i n g r v i l lb ea l r l er o a c c ( ,nur l i r r
of those pillars of cosmologicalanc-lsocialorier. It seemsrhar the same
w o u l db et r e a t e dM . a t t e r so f f r
d e m o n s t r a t i o ni s t o b e m a d e f o r d i f f e r e . t i a t i n gt h e s p a t i o t e r n p o r e an l - t h e d i a g r a m t, h e r e a l i t vo i p
velopesdeployedby historiansof science. The commonhistorian-s seemro t h r o u g hr n e v e rg . " . r " . n , , n l
do a much betterjob ar maintainingdiiferencesthan the roweringepiste-
machines, gestrlres, textbooks
mologists.
T h e s a r r ed e f i n i t i o nc a nb e a p
Let us comparerhe rwo accounrsby lookingat figure 10.2.In thosedia_
time /, arerveakbecause thev I
grams existenceis not an all-or-nothingproperty but a relativeproperry
c n c es. t li m p o r t a n tt o r , 1 1f pl p . 1
a l i t y a n d p o u c h e t ,ssh r i n k i n j
Associations AND d i f f e r e n cies o n l y , r sô i ( a 5 s h . ,
verslon
n, timet
a n dt h e l o n gs e g r n e nâtt t h e r i g
w h a t h a sn e v e rb e e nt h e . eo , r
r e a la n d r e l a t i v e l ve x i s t e n tr, h
d o e sn o t e x i s t , ,b, u t , , t h i si s t h r
c e x p r e s s l o n ' s p o n t a n e ogLelnse
verston Ç T h e s e c o n dd i m e n s i o ni s t l
s c i e n c de o e sn o t d o c u m e n t r i r
timet+l :
! s t û t t c eS. u c ha m o v e w o u l c la c
rnents.History of scjencedocr
c o m p o s l n ag n a s s o c i a t i oonf e n t
lnstitnce, is rnerde, Lrtthe beginn
!'!r5lon r i e n c ea, n t i - D a r w i n i s r nr,e p u b
the air + culture + contamination
tory skills in observingegg cle
timet+? Assemblageof human and nonhuman elements
c r e a t l o n sR, o t t e nn a t u r a lm u s e
Fig're 10.2. Relativeexistence mav be mappedaccordingto two dimensions:as-
t e u r ' so p p o s i t i o np, o u c h e a t lter
sociation(AND'),that is,how manv elementscohereat a given time,and substitu_
tion (oR), that is,horvmanv elementsin a given associati.,n s u b s t i t u t i o no, r t r a n s l a t r o nm c i
haveto [-emrrclrfiet] to
allorvother new elementsto coherewith rheproject.The resultis a curvein which the diagrerm. To associate elerne
e v e r ym o t i i f i c ; r t i ui n t h e , r s s o c i a t i oinss" p . r i àt o r " l r y . ' r n u v ei r rt h eo t h . ' rd i m e n - t e n c eh, e h a sr o m o d i f y t h e l i s t t l
sion.Pouchet'sspontaneous generationbecomeslessand lessreal,and pasteur,s e l e r n e n t sw i l l n o t n e c e s s a r i lIv
culturernethodbecomesmore and rnorerealaiterundergoingmanv transforma- through the diagrarnspacet'ha
tions.(FromBruno Latour,Pandor,'sHope fcambridge:HarvardUniversity
Press,19991,1-î9;copyrighto 1999bv the presidentand Fellowsoi Harvarj col-
/. Marvlint C u n t o r , p 1 r 1 1 6 / 7 3ç 14 ,i , , 1 1
lege-Reprintedbv permissionof HarvardUniversitl,press)
tions,199-t).

of Pasteurand Pouchet.This dif-
fiery keepers, is madeevenmore
d empty privilegethey want for
rtion is herethe enemy of dlffer-
;hteenth-century aristocrats who
: was not solidly held up by their
r t h e h u m b l es h o u l d e r so f m a n y
' i s a c t u a l l yr a t h e rb e r r e m
r ain-
h a nb y t h eA t l a s - l i k ce o n r o r r i o n s
al order.It seemsthat the same
ntiating the spatiotemporalen-
The commonhistoriansseemto
r e n c e st h a n t h e t o w e r i n ge p i s t e -
rking at figure 10.2.In thosedia-
property but a relativeproperty
AssociationsAND
nonhuman
elements
:d accordingto two dimensions: as-
rhereat a giventime,and substitu-
n association haveto be rnodifiedto
oject.The resultis a curvein which
or" bv a move in the other dimen-
:s lessand lessreal,and Pasteur's
ter undergoingmany transforma-
mbridge:HarvardUniversity
identand Fellowsof HarvardCol-
:rsity Press)
E,tlstilr r r/ r r l N o r rr . r i s f i r r g O Û j c c f s 257
t h a t i s c o n c e i v eodf a r st h e c . t p / o r n t i oor rf a t w o - d i m e n s i o n aslp a c em a d eb y
a s s o c i a t i oann ds u b s t i t u t i o nA, N D a n dO R .A n e n r i r yg a i n si n r e a l i t vi f i t i s
a s s o c i a t ewdi t h m a n l , o t h e r st h a ta r ev i e w e da sc o l l a b o r a t i nwgi t h i t . l t l o s e s
in realitv ii, on the contrary,it hasto shedassociates or collaborators(hu-
m a n s a n d n o n h u r n a n s )T. h u s ,t h e s ed i a g r a r n sd o n o t c o n s i d e ra n 1 ,f i n a l
s t a g er n w h i c hh i s t o r i c i t lw , i l l b e a b a n d o n etdo b e r e l a y e db f i n e r t i a ,a h i s -
toricity, and natr-rralness-althoughvery well knorvn phenomenalike
b l a c k - b o x i n gs ,o c i a l i z a t r oi n ,s t i t u t i o n a l i z a t i osnt,a n d a r d i z a t i oann, dt r a r n -
i n g w i l l b e a b l et o a c c o u nfto r t h e s m o o r ha n do r d i n a r yw a y si n w h i c h t h e y
wouldbetreated.Melttersof factL.tecorne mattersof course.Atthe bottornof
t h e d i a g r a m ,t h e r e a l i t v o f P a s t e u r ' gs e n n c a r r i e db y t h e a i r i s o b t a i n e d
r h r o u g ha n e v e rg r e a r e rn u m b e ro f e l e m e n t sw i t h w h i c h i t i s a s s o c i a t e d -
rlachines,gestures, textLrooks, institutions,taxonomies, theories,andsoon.
The samedefinitioncanbe appliedto Pouchet'sclairns,which at versiorlri,
time f, arewetrkbecause thev havelostahnostall of their reality.The dlffer-
ence,so irnportantto our dragonkeepers, betweenPasteur'sexpandingre-
a l i t y a n d P o u c h e t 's h r i n k i n gr e a l i t vi s t h e n p i c t u r e da d e q u a t e l yB.u t t h i s
differenceis only a-sûig,rsthe relationbetweenthe tiny segmenron the left
a n dt l . r el o n gs e g m e nat t t h er i g h t .I t i s r r o fa n n à s o / rf rc d e r n a r c a t i obne t w e e n
w h a t h a sn e v e rb e e nt h c r ea n d w h a t w a sa l w a y st h e r e .B o t h a r er e l a t i v e l y
r e a la n d r e l a t i v e l ye x i s t e n tt,h a t i s e x t a n t .W e n e v e rs a y" i t e x i s t s "o r " i t
d o e sn o t e x i s t , "b u t " t h r s i s t h e c o l l e c t i v e h i s t o r yt h a t i s e n v e l o p e b dy t h e
'spontaneous
e x p re s s i o n g e n e r a t i o no' r ' g e r m sc ar r i e db y t h e a i r . " '
The seconddimensionis the one that captr-rres historicity.History of
s c i e n cdeo e s n o t d o c u m e n t r a v e lf / l r o l r g /tl i m e o f a n a l r e a d ye x i s t i n gs r r b -
s t t l n c eS. r - r cah m o v e w o u l d a c c e pt o o r n u c h f r o m t h e d r a g o n s ' r e q u i r e -
m e n t s .H i s t o r v o i s c i e n c d e o c u m e n t st h e m o d i f i c a t i o nosf t h e i n g r e d i e n t s
c o m p o s i n ag n a s s o c i a t i oonf e n t i t i e sP. o u c h e t 'ssp o n t a n e o ugse n e ar t i o n ,f o r
i n s t a n c ei s, m a d e a, t t h eb e g i n n i n go, f m a n y e l e m e n t sc:o m m o n s e n seex p c -
r i e n c ea, n t i - D a r w i n i s mr,e p r , r b l i c a n i sP mr,o t e s t a ntth e o l o g yn, a t u r a lh i s -
t o r y s k i l l si n o b s e r v i n ge g g d e v e l o p r n e ngt ,e o l o g i c atlh e o r y o f m u l t i p l e
creations,Ror.ren naturirl museuln equipment,etc.; In encounteringPas-
t e u r ' so p p o s i t i o nP, o u c h eat l t e r sm a n y o f t h o s ee l e m e n t sE. a c ha l t e r a t i o n ,
s u b s t i t u t i o no, r t r a n s l a t i o nm e a n sa m o v e o n t o t h e v e r t i c a d l i r l e n s i o no f
t h e d i a g r a r l .T o a s s o c i a teel e r n e n tisn a d u r a b l ew h o l e ,a n d t h u s g a i ne x r s -
t e n c eh, e h a st o r n o d i f yt h el i s t t h a tm a k e su p h i s p h e n o m e n o nB.u t t h e n e w
e l e m e n t sw i l l n o t n e c e s s a r i lhy o l d w i t h t h e f o r m e r o n e s ,h e n c ea m o v e
t h r o u g h t h e d i a g r a r ns p â c et h a t d i p s - b e c a u s eo f t h e s u b s t i t u t i o n - a n d
7 . N { a r r , l i n e C a n t o t P o l c / r e f , s r T i ' ( t / ?tf' f . , l r l t r r r i s a f r , r l ' : I J r r s d e t t f é t o t t L l i t é ( N i c e : Z ' é d i -
tions,199-1).
258 BRUNo LArouR
È,risti

may movetowardthe left because of lackof associations betr,veen the newly o n f e r m e n t a t i o na, b r a n d _ n
" r e c r u i t e d "e l e m e n t s . o f i n e r t m a t e r i a l a, c i r c u i t o u
F o ri n s t a n c eP, o u c h eht a st o l e a r na g r e a td e a lo f t h e l a b o r a t o r yp r a c t i c e t h e f e r m e n t st h a t p a s t e u ri s l
of his adversaryin orderto answerthe Academvof Sciences commissions, cificproduct-one for alcohc
lrut, by doing this, he losesthe supportof the academyin Parisand hasto r a r i o n ,a t h i r d f o r b u t y r i c
rely more and rnoreon republicanscientistsin the provinces.His assocla- s p o n t a n e o u s lays, p o u c h e ct l a
t i o n sr n i g h te x t e n d - f o r i n s t a n c eh e g a i n sl a r g es u p p o r ti n t h e a n t i - B o n a - t h e e n t i t i e sa l r e a d ya s s e r n b
partist popular press-but the support he expectedfrom the acrrdemy t h a t v i t a l i s mi s b a c k c; u l t u r e s
v a n i s h e sT.I . r e c o r n p r o m i sbee t w e e na s s o c i a t i o nasn ds u b s t i t u t i o nissw h a t I c a u s eo f u n c o n t r o i l a b l ce o n t a
call exploringthe socionaturalphasespace.Any entity is such an explo- be reformattedin orderto bec
ration, such an experiencein what holds with whom, in who holds with u n d e rt h e m i c r o s c o p ea;g r i b u
whom, in what holdswith what,in who holdslvith what. Ii Pouchetaccepts t e r e s t e di n a l a b o r a t o r vp r a c t
the experirnentsof his adversarybr,rtlosesthe academyand gainsthe pop- tice;etc.
u l a r a n t i e s t a b l i s h m epnrt e s sh, i s e n t i t y ,s p o n t a n e o ugse n e r a t i o nw, i l l b e a In this very sketchydescr
-
di.fferententity.It is not a substance crossingthe nineteenthcentury.It is a from Pouchet,as if the for...
setof associations, a syntagm,madeof shifting compromise,a paradigm,E p h e n o m e n aa n d t h e s e c o n dn , i
exploring what the nineteenth-centurysocionaturemay withhold. To h o l d t o g e t h e ra s m a n y e l e m e
Pouchet'sdismay,thereseemsto be no wirv from Rouento keepthe follow- t h o s ea r e n o t t h e _ s c n reel e m e
ing united in one singlecoherentnetwork:Prorestantism, republicanism, g a n i s mw i l l a u t h o r i z ep a s t e u tr
the academy,boiling flasks,eggsemergingde novo, his ability as narural and the specificityof ferment
historian,his theory of catastrophic creation.More precisely, if he wantsto t h e m i n s i d et h e h i g h l y c l i s c i p
maintirinthis assemblage, he hasto shift audiences and give his network a r n u s c o n n e c t i n ga t o n c ew i t h t
completelydifferentspaceand time. It is now a fie11,battleagainstoftjcial Pasteurtoo is exploring,nego
science, Catholicism,bigotry,and the hegernonyof chemistryover sound who holdswith whom, *hnùn
n a t u r a lh i s t o r y . e is no other way ro gain reality.B
P a s t e uar l s oe x p l o r e st h e s o c i o n a t u roef t h e n i n e t e e n t hc e n t u r yb, u t h i s s t i r u r i o n sh e e x p l o r e sm a k ea d j
a s s o c i a t i oins m a d eo f e l e m e n t st h a t ,a t t h e b e g i n n i n ga, r el i l r g e l yd i s t i n c t of his rnovesrnodifiesthe defir
f r o m t h o s eo f P o u c h e tH. e h a sj u s t s t a r t e dt o f i g h t L i e b i g ' sc h e m i c atlh e o r y well asthe emperor;the laborat
of fermentationand replacedit by a living entiry,the ferment,the organic of Appert'spreserves, the taxon
m a t t e ro f t h e m e d i u mb e i n gt h e r en o t t o c a u s ef e r r n e n t a t i o na,sf o r L i e b i g , a g r ib u s i ne s s .
b u t t o f e e dt h e l i t t l e b u g t h a t n o l o n g e ra p p e a r a s sa u s e l e sbs y - p r o d u c to f
f e r m e n t a t i o nb u t a si t s s o l ec a u s e . 1T0h i s n e w e m e r g i n gs y n t a g mi n c l u d e s
S P A T I O T E I \ 4 P O REANLV E L O
mtrny elements:a modificationof vitahsm madeacceptable againstchem-
istry,a reemploymentof crystallographicskills at sowingand cr-rltivating I showedrhat we cansketchpast
e n t i t i e sa, p o s i t i o ni n L i l l e w i t h m a n y c o n n e c t i o ntso a g r i b u s i n e srse l y i n g calfashion,recoveringasmany c
out using the demarcationbetw
E . I n t h e l i n g u i s t ' su s a g ;oef t h e r v o r d ,n o t t h e K u h n i i r no n e . rudimentarymapto replacejuclg
9 . W e s h o u l dn o t f o r g e th e r et h a t P o u c h e it s n o t d o i n g f r i n g e s c i e n c eb,u t i s b e i n gp u s h e d the spatiotemporalenvelopesdt
t o t h e f r i n g e .A t t h e t i m e ,i t i s P o u c h e rt v h os e e m st o b e a b i et o c o n t r o lr r h a t i s s c i e n t i l i cb v i n -
substitutions,syntagms,ancl pa
s i s t i n gt h a t t h e " g r e at p r o b le ms" o i s p o n t r r n e o ugse n e r a t i o nsh o u ld b et a c k l e do nl v b v g e o l o g v
a n dr v o r l dh i s t o r l i n o t b v g o i n et h r o u g h P a s t e u r ' fs- l a s kasn d n a r r o l vc o n c e r n s . move?Why wor-rldsciencestudie
1 0 . S e eL a t o u r ,P L u t L l o r ûH' so p c ,c h a p . 4 . rattveto accountfor the relativee>
 Eristitlt a i l i 1 N o r r c r i , ç t i r t gO b l e c t s 259

rf associations
betweenthe newly on fermentation,a brand-newlaboratory,experimentsin making life or"rt
o i i n e r t r n a t e r i a la, c i r c u i t o u sm o v et o r e a c hP a r i sa n d t h e a c a d e m ye,t c .I f
e a td e a lo f t h e l a b o r a t o r yp r a c r r c e t h e f e r m e n t st h a t P a s t e uirs l e a r n i n gt o c u l t i v a t ee, a c hh a v i n gi t s o w n s p e -
- ' . r d e yr no f S c i e n c ecso r n m i s s i o n s , cificproduct-one for alcoholicfermentation,the other for lacticfermen-
f the acadernyin Parisand hasto r a t i o n ,a t h i r d f o r b u t y r i c f e r m e n t a t i o n - a r e a l s o a l l o w e dt o a p p e a r
i s t si n t h e p r o v i n c e sH.i s a s s o c i a - spontaneously, as Pouchetclairns,then this is the end of the association of
s l a r g es u p p o r ti n t h e a n t i - B o n a - i n
t h e e n t i t i e sa l r e a d ya s s e m b l ebdy P a s t e u rL.i e b i gw o u l d b e r i g h t s a y i n g
he expectedfrom the academy t h a t v i t a l i s mi s b a c k c; u l t u r e si n p u r em e d i u mw i l l b e c o m ei m p o s s i b l e be-
a t i o n sa n ds u b s t i t u t i o niss w h a t I c a u s eo f u n c o n t r o l l a b l e c o n t a m i n a t i o nc;o n t a m i n a t i o ni t s e l fw i l l h a v et o
ce.Any entiry is such an explo- be reformattedin orderto becomethe genesisof new life forms observable
with whom, in who holds with u n d e rt h e m i c r o s c o p ea;g r i b u s i n e sfse n n e n t a t i o nw o u l d n o l o n g e rb e i n -
rldswith what.If Pouchetaccepts t e r e s t e di n a l a b o r a t o r vp r a c t i c ea sh a p h a z a r a d si t s o w n c e n t u r y - o l dp r a c -
; the academyand gainsthe pop- t i c e ;e t c .
Dontaneous generation,will be a In this very sketchvdescription,I am not treating Pasteurdifferently
n g t h e n i n e t e e n t hc e n t u r yI.t i s a from Pouchet,as if the former were strugglingwith real r:ncontarninated
ifting compromise,a paradigm,s phenomenaand the secondwith myths and fancies.Both try their bestto
socionaturemay withhold. To hold togetheras rlanv elementsas they can in order to gain reality.But
,'from Rouento keepthe follow- t h o s ea r e n o t t h e s , r n r ee l e m e n t sA. n a n t i - L i e b i ga, n t i - P o u c h em t icroor-
(: Protestantism, republicanism, g a n i s mw i l l a r . r t h o r i zPea s t e utro m a i n t a i nt h e l i v i n gc a u s eo f f e r m e n t a t i o n
g d e n o v o ,h i s a b i l i t y a s n a r u r a l and the specificityof ferments,allowing him to control and to cultivate
rn. More precisely, if he wantsto them inside the highly disciplinedand artificial limits of the laboratory,
ucliences and give his network a thus connectingat once with the Academy of Scienceand agribusiness.
rolva fiery battleagainstofficial P a s t e u tro o i s e x p l o r i n g n , e g o t i a t i n gt,r y i n g o u t w h a t h o l d sw i t h w h o m ,
rnonv of chernistryover sound w h o h o l d sw i t h w h o m ,w h a t h o l d sw i t h w h a t ,w h o h o l d sw i t h w h a t .T h e r e
i s n o o t h e rw a y t o g a i nr e a l i t y B . u t t h e a s s o c i a t i o nhse c h o o s easn dt h e s u b -
: t h en i n e t e e n t h and each
c e n t u r yb, u t h i s stitutionshe exploresrnakea differentsocionaturalassemblage,
: b e g i n n i n ga, r el a r g e l yd i s t i n c t of his rnovesmodifiesthe definition of the associated entities:the air, as
o fight Liebig'schemicaltheory well asthe emperor,the laboratoryequiprnentaswell asthe interpretation
e n t i t y .t h ef e r m e n tr, h eo r g a n i c of AppL'rt'spreserves, the taxonomy of microbesasrvellas the projectsof
trsefermentation,asfor Liebig, agribusiness.
r e a r sa sa u s e l e s bs y - p r o d u c o tf
ervemergingsynragmincludes
EA
SPATIOTEN4POR NLV E L O P E SN, O T S U B S T A N C E S
rnadeacceptable againstchern-
; k i l l sa t s o w i n ga n dc u l r i v a t i n g I showedthat rvecansketchPasteur'sand Pouchet'smovesin a symmetri-
e c t i o n sr o a g r i b u s i n e sr es l y i n g calfashion,recoveringasmany differences âswe wish betweenthernwith-
out using the demarcationbetweenfact and fiction.I also offereda very
irn one. y a pt o r e p l a c e , l u d g m eanbt os u te x i s t e n coer n o n e x i s t e n b
r u d i m e n t a rm cey
r i n g f r i n g e s c i e n c eb,u t i s b e i n gp u s h e d e n v e l o p e sd r a w n w h e n r e g i s t e r i n a
g s s o c i a t r o n
a s
n d
the spatioternporal
: a b l et o c o n t r o lw h a t i s s c i e n t i f i cb v i n -
sr.rbstitutions, syntagms,and paradigms. What is being gained by this
r r i o ns i r u L r lbder . r c k l eodr r l rb u g . , , i o q , ' '
: sa n d n a r r o wc o n c e r n s . move?Why would sciencestudiesand history of scienceoffer a betternar-
rativeto accountior the relativeexistence ofall entitiesthanthe oneoffered
260 BRL'NO L.\TOUR E_trsti

b y t h e n o t i o r ro i , r s u L . , s t a nrceem a i r - r i nt hg e r ef o r e v e r ?\ ' V h ys h o u l da d d i n g t i o t e m p o r ael n v e l o p teh a t r e r r

t h es t r i r n g e a s s u m p t i oo n f h i s t o r i c i t yo f t h i n g st o t h e h i s t o r i c i t yo f h u r n a n s pirically observa['le.
s i r n p l i f yt ] r en a r r a t i v e os f b o t h? T h i r d ,t h i s s i m i l a r i t l d
, o e sr
The first advirntageis that wc.clonot haveto considerphysicalentities i n g t h e s d r T ?nse t w o r k sa n ds h ;
s u c ha sf e r m e n t sg, e r r n so, r e g g ss p r o u t i n gi n t o e x i s t e n caesb e l n gr n d i c a l l y a s s o c i a t i o nhsa v e a l m o s tn o
d i f f e r e n tf r o m a c o n t e ï tr n a d eo i c o l l e a g u e se,l n p e r o r sm , o n e y ,i n s t r u - s e t t i n gd e s i g n e bd y P a s t e uar n
ûlents,body prirctices, etc.Eachoi the networksthirt rnakesup.r a versionin m e n t a l d e s i g n so f P o u c h e tn
t h e d i a g r a ma b o v ei s i r l i s t o f h e t e r c l g e n e oausss o c i i l t i o nt hs i i t i n c l t r d e hs u - à s y m m e t r yh e r e )F. o l l o w i n g t
m a n sa n d r r o n h u m a ne l e m e n t sT. h e r ea r e m a n y p h i l o s o p h i c adli i f i c u l t i e s completelydifferent definitio
w i t h t h i s r v a y o i a r g u i n g ,b u t i t h a s t h e g r e a ta d v a n t a g o e f r e q r - r i r i nugs haveshown elsewhele,event
to staL.rilize neither rhe list of whirt makesup natLlrenor the list of rvhat T h i s n r e a n st h a t t h e i n c o
makesup context.Pouchetand Pasreurdo not definethe siimephysicalele- positions-an incommensu
m e n t s - t h e i i r s t o n e s e e ' i ng e n e r t r t i ow n h e r et h c o t h e r s e e sc o n t a m i n a - j L r d g m e n t - i si t s e l ft h ep r o d r
t i o n o f c r . r l t u r e s - n od r o t h e y l i v e i n t h e- ç r i r rsi co c i aal n dh i s t o r i c acl o n t e x t . rvorks.In the end-a locirl.rn
E a c hc h a i no f a s s o c i a t i o ndse f i n e sn o t o n l v d i f i e r e n tl i n k sw i t h t h es a m ee l - p o s i t i o n sa r ei n c o m r n e ' n s u r
ements,but tlifierentelemerrts,rsrvell. Thus, there is no difficr"rl
S o ,h i s t o r i a n si l r en o m o r e f o r c e .tl o i r n a g i n eo n es r n g l en a t u r eo f w h i c h w o r k so n c et h e i rb a s i cs i m i l a r
P a s t e u trr n dP o u c h ew t o u l d p r o v i d ed i f f e r e n t" i n t e r p r e t a t i o n st"h a n t h e y v e l o p eo f s p o n t a n e o ugse n e r a
a r et o i m a g i n eo n e s i n g l en i n e t e e n t hc e n t u r vi m p o s i n gi t s r m p r i n to n h i s - of germscarriedby the air and
toricalactorsWhat is at stakein eachof the two constructionsis what God, The abyssbetweenthe'clirirns
the emperor,rni:rrter, eggs,vats,colle,rgr.res, etc.areableto c'lo. To usea semi- u n d e rt h r e a ro f p u n i s h r r r e n is
o t i c v o c a b u l a r yp,a r t ' o r n t t cl ne -aç r e r v h a ti s n e e d e di n t h o s eh e t e r o g e n e o u s definitivedernarcationwhere
a s s o c i a t i o r rasn,d n o t c o n 7 ) e t c t l c ci rsn p l y i n gt r n h i d c l e ns u b s t r a t eo r s u b - took over has disappeared. Th
stance.Eachelernentis to be delinedbv its associations and is an eventcre- workscomparable at lastbecir
atedat the occirsion of eachof thoseassociations. This wrll work for lactrc and historicizingeven the e-tt
fermentation,aswell as for the city of Rouen,the emperof,the rue d'Ulm Pasteurhas won over Pouche
laboratory,God,or Pasteur'sand Pouchet'sown standing,psychology, and "everywhere,"this evervwhe
p r e s u p p o s i t i o rTr sh.e f e r m e n t so f t h ea i r a r ed e e p l ym o d i f i e db v t h e l a b o r a - frorn the Acadernyof Scierr
tory at rue d'Ulm, btrtso is Pasteur, rvhoL.,ecomes Pouchet'svictor;and so i s 1 8 6 4 t h r o u g h P a s t e u r ' sw o r k
t / r en l r t h a ti s r l o ws e p a r a t e tdh, t r n k st o t h es w a nn e c ke x p e r i m e n it n, t o w h i r t l a s t e da l o n gt i m e a n dh a dt h e s
t r a n s p o r to s x y g e no n t h e o n eh a n da n dw h a t c a r r i e sd u s ta n dg e r m so n t h e chemicaldictatorshipreceding
other.In the rrarrativesof historiansof science, historicit-vis allocirtedto n// Sothey hadthe fieldto themse
t h ee n t i t i e s . felt the sameway.Well, the cor
Second,as I saidabove,we do not haveto treatthe two envelopesasym-
m e t r i c a l l yb y c o n s i d e r i n tgh a t P o u c h eits f u m b l i n gi n t h e d a r kw i t h n o n -
I l . B r t r n oL . r t o u tf û i t a i i , i r i l r Lr { r ,
e x i s t i n ge n t i t i e su , [ r i l eP a s t e u irs s l o r v l vt a r g e t i n ga n e n t i t v p l a y i n gh i d e - r : n . I a 9 - l l l. o u e h e t f. o r i n s t , r r t cue r. i r r '
and-seek,lvhile the historians punctuate the se.rrchlry r,,,arningslike o f s p o n t a n e o ugse n e r a t i r r nP. a s t e u t tht
" c o l d1 , "" y o u a r eh o t1 , "" y o u a r er v i r r m! " B o t h P a s t e uar n dP o u c h eat r ea s - b u t t h i s t i m e t o a s kf o r h i s n ' l o n e yn, o t
t h e s r r n ee m p c r o r ?N o . r i n c r r , n ei s j L
sociatingand substitutingelements,ve11,few of rvhicharr'similat and ex-
o n e - P o u c h e t ' se m p e r o r - i s s u p p o s e
p e r i m e n t i n gw i t h t h e c o n t r a d i c t o r yr e q u i r e m e n t so f e a c h e n t i t y . T h e entistsw , h i l e t h e o t h e r i s s u p p o s e dt o
envelopesdraivn by both protagonistsirre sirnilarin that they are a spa- p , r l i t i cbsu t [ u l l v t o ' u p p o r tt h e l , , r m y
 Ë , r l - ç l i n i l . r n , /N o n r - r i - s rf r r t O l r l c c r s 261

thereforever?Why shouldaclding
tiotemporalenvelopethat remainsIocallyand temporallysituatedandem-
t h i n g st o t h e h i s t o r i c i t yo f h u , n a n s
piricallyobservable.
T h i r d ,t h i s s i n r i l a r i t yd o e sn o t m e a nt h a t P a s t e uar n dP o u c h eat r eb u i l d -
: h a v er o c o n s i d epr h y s i c ael n t i t i e s
i n g t h es n n i É ' n e t w o r kasn ds h a r et h es r r i i l ch i s t o r yT. h ee l e m e n t si n t h e t l v o
n g r n r oe x i s t e n caesb e i n gr a d i c a l l v
irssociations have almost no intersection-.rpart from the experimental
eagues/emperors/money, instru_
settingdesignedbv Pasteurand takenoverby Pouchet(noneof the expen-
:tworks that r.nakes up a versionin mental designsof Pouchetwas replicatedbv Pasteur,revealinga clear
: o u sa s s o c i a t i o nt hs a t i n c l u d e sh u _
asyn'lmetryhere).Foilowingthe nvo networksin detailwill leadus to visit
r r er n a n yp h i l o s o p h i c adii f t i c u l t i e s
( â sI
c o m p l e t e l yd i i i e r e n td e t l n i t i o r r os I n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u rsyo c i o n a t u r e
( ' è i r c . tat d v n n r . r goeI r e q u r r . i ntgr s
haveshown elsewhere, even the definitionof NapoleonIII is different)."
( e su p n a r u r en o r t h e l i s t o f w h a t
This means that the incommensurabilitv itseli between the two
o not definerhe sarnephysicalele-
positions-an incommensurabilitythat seernsso importirrt for moral
n l r e r et h e o t h e rs e e sc o n t a r n u r i r -
j u d g m e n t - i s i t s e l ft h e p r o d u c to f t h e s l o wd i f f e r e n t i a t i o on f t h e t w o n e t -
,srtiirr'socialilrrdhistoricalcontext.
rvorks.In the end-a localand provisionirlend-Pasteur's and Pouchet's
l y d i f f e r e n tl i n k sw i t h r h es t r m ee l -
p o s i t i o nasr ei n c o r n m e n sr aub l e .
Thus, there is no diificulty in recognizingthe differencesin two net-
I r i l s i n eo n es i n g l en a t u r eo f w h i c h
w o r k so n c et h e i rb a s i cs i m i l a r i t yh a sb e e na c c e p t e d . T hs ep a t i o t e r n p o reanl -
.-rent" interpretr-rtior-rs" than they v e l o p eo f s p o n t a n e o ugse n e r â t i o h n a sl i m i t sa ss h a r pa n da sp r e c i s a e st h o s e
t u r y i m p o s i l l gi t s i m p r i n t o n h i s _
of germscarrieclby the air andcontaminatirrg microbecuituresin mediurn.
he two constrLlctions is what Gocj, The abyssbetwe'enthe claimsthat our two dragonschallengedus to adrnit
s .e t c .î r e a b l et o d o .T o u s er s e m i -
under threat of punishmentis indeedthere,L'utwith an addedbonus:the
i s n e e d e di n t h o s eh e t e r o g e n e o u s
d e f i n i t i v ed e m a r c a t i o n w h e r e h i s t o r y s t o p p e da n d n a t u r a l i z e do n t o l o g y
i i n g a n h i d d e ns u b s t r a r eo r s u b _
t o o k o v e r h a sd i s a p p e a r eTd h. e a d v a n t , r gies i m p o r t a n ti n r e n d e r i n gn e t -
s a s s o c i a t i o nasn di s a n e v e n tc r e _
rvorkscomparable at lastbecause it allowsus to go on qualifving,situating,
ciations.This will work for lactic
and historicizingeven the ertensiotrof "final" reality.When we say that
) u e n ,r h e e m p e r o Lt h e r u e d , U l m
's Pasteurhas won over Pouchet,and that no\^/germs carriedin the air are
own standing,psvchology,and "everywhere,"this everywherecan be documentedempiricallv.Viewed
re deeplymodifledby the laL.,ora-
from the Ac:rdemyof Sciences, spontaneoLls generationdisappeared in
ecorresPouchc't's victor,and_so is 1864 through Pasteur's work. But partisansof spontaneousgeneration
swanneckexperiment,into what
lasteda long time andhadthe sentimentthat they hadconquered, Pasteur's
h a tc a r r i e sd u s ti l n dg e r m so n t h e
chemicaldictatorshiprecedinginto the fragile.fortressof "oiiicial science."
r ' n c eh, i s r o r i c i t yi s a l l o c a t etdo , l / /
So they hadthe ileld to themselves, eventhough Pasteurand his colleagues
ielt the samewây.Well, the comparisonof the two "extencled fields"is fea-
t o t r e â tt h e t w o e n v e l o p eass V r n -
t u m b l i n gi n t h e d a r kw i t h n , . , n -
a r g e t i n ga n e n r i r vp l a y i n gh i d e _ 1 1 .B r u n o L a t o u ï , P ù s t ? u r : l n r c s c i e t t c c , t r t t s t q l c , r r r s i i : c l c ( P a r i s : L i b r a i r i c a c a d é m i q u e P e r -
r i n , 1 9 9 . 1 )P. o u c h e tf,o r i n s t a n c ew, n t e s . : l e t t e rt o t h e e r r p e r o ra s k i n gh i m f o r s u p p o r tr n f a v o r
e t h e s e a r c hb y r v a r n i n g sl i k e
o I sp o n t a n e o u s { e n er i rt i o n .P a s t e u
r ,t h e s am e y e ar ,al s on r i t e st o a s kf o r t h c t ' n rp e r o r ' ssu p p o r t
3oth PasteurarndPouchetareas- b u t t h i s t i m e t o i r s ki o r h i s m o n e . l ,n o r f o r h i s o p i n r o na t o u t t h e c o n t r o v er s v .D o t h e y w r i t e t t r
fe.wof which aresimilat and ex- t h e s a m ee m p e r o r ?N o , s i n c eo n e i s s u p p o s e dt o h a v e ; n o p i n r o na n d t h e o t h e r o n e m o n e \ . ,
trirements of each entity. l'he o n e - P o u c h e t ' s e m p e r o r - i s s u p p o s e tdo i n v a d es c i e n c e a n d r e c t i f vt h e b a dl u d g m e n t so f s c r -
e n t i s t sw , h i l e t h e o t h e r i s s u p p o s e dt o s t r i c t l v r e s p e c t h r -d e m a r c a t i o nb r ' t w e e ns c i e n c ea n d
: s i r n i l a ri n t h a t t h e y a r e a s p a -
p o l i t i c sb u t f u ) 1 vt o s u p p o r tt h e f o r m e r .k e e p i n gh i s o p i n r o r r tso h i m s e l f .
)62 BRUNO LATOUR E-risfirr

siblewithout recurring to some incompatibleand untranslatable"p,rra- T h i s r e w o r k i n go f t h e n o t i r

digms" tl-ratrvould forever estrirngePasteurfrom Pouchet.Repulrlican, a p h e n o m e n o nt h a t i s b a t i i yl
p r o v i n c i anl a t u r a lh i s t o r i a n sh,a v i n ga c c e stso t h e p o p u l a ra n t i - B o n a p a r t i s t p h e n o m e n ar e n t a i n i t t e t i s t c t
p r e s sm , a i n t a i nt h ee x t e n s i o n o f s p o n t a n e o tgl se n ( - r â t i o A n .d o z e nm i c r o b i - s a yt h i r tP a s t e uirs r i g h t a n dP c
o l o g y I a b o r a t o r i ewsi t h d r a wt h e e x i s t e n c oe f t h i s p h e n o m e n o n of sponta- c o n d i t i o no f m a k i n g v e r y p r e
neousgenerationfrorn natureand reformatthe phenomenait wirsrnadeof s t i l l a t w o r k t o m a i n t a i nt h e
b y t h e t w i n p r a c t i c eosf p u r em e d i u mc u l t u r ea n c pl r o t e c t i o na g i r i n sct o n t a - w h o s ew o r l d a r ew e n o w l i v i n c
minationT . h e t w o a r en o t i n c o m p a t i b l pe a r a d i g n r(si n t h e K u h n i a ns e n s e know ilbout vou, but for m.,'
t h i st i m e )b y n a t u r e . T h e yh a v e b e e nr r r r r dirn c o l n p a t i b lbey t h e s e r i e so f a s - e v e r yt i m e I e a tp a s t e ur i z e dv o
sociationsand substitutionsconstructedby eachof the two protagonists. t i b i o t i c sI.n o t h e rw o r d s ,e v e n1
T h e y s i m p l vh a d{ e w e ra n df e w e re l e m e n t si n c o m m o n . h a v et o g r i r n te x t r a h i s t o l i iri r
The reasonwhy we find this reasoningdifficult is that we irnagrnefor a t s o r n eb r e a k i n go r t u r n i n gp o
microbesa s,.rt'rstance that would bea little bit nlorethan the seriesof its hrs- t o g oo n h i s t o r i c i z i n g i r n dl c , c a
toricalmaniiestations. We rnight l'teready to grant that the set of perfor- m a k eu p i t s d e s c e n d a n tlsn. t l
mancesremainsalwa,vsinsideof the networksan.1that they aredelineated Pasteurover Pouchet,in the si,
by a precisespatiotemporalenvelope,but we cannotstlppressthe feeling o f r e p u b l i c a no v e ra u t o c r a t l cn
that the substance travelswith fewerconstraintsrhanthe performances. It p r e s i d e n t i ael l e c t i o ni n s t e a do l
seens to live a life of its orvn,having Lteen, like the Virgin lVIary in the c l a i n tr h a ts u c hr v i c t o r yr - e qir
dogmaof ImmaculateConception,alwaysalreadythere,evenbeforeEve's institutionw , o u l d L . ef o o l i s h .I
fall, waiting in Heavento be translocatedinto Atrna'slvotnb at the right h i s t o r v . l 3T o c l a i mt l . r a t h e e v
t i m e . T h e r e i s i n d e e da s t t p p l e m e r ti tn t h e n o t i o n o f s u b s t a n c eb,u t w e t h e w h o l es p â t i o t e m p o r aml a n
s h o u l dn o t ,f o l l o w i n gt h e e t v r n o l o g vo f t h e w o r d ," w h a t l i e su n d e r n e a t h , " away from the networks,antl t
i m a g i n et h a t t h i s s u p p l e m e nrte s i d e "sb e n c ' a t ht"l r es e r i e so f i t s m a n i i e s t a - milk, and forms of governme
tions.Sociologvoffersa much betterdefinitionof substance with its notion n e o u s l y .. .
of instittttior , t h a t w h i c h i s a b o v e
i r s e r i e s
o f e n t i t i e a
s n d m a k e st h e m a c ta s
ir whole.Yes, at the endof the nineteenthcentury, "the airborne germs"has
G R A N T I N GH I S T O R I C I T T
Y(
becomc'awhole,an or-ganized and systetnaticbody of practicethat cilnnot
be shattered.But this solidity,this i'vholene'ss, is to be accountedfor by the T h i ss o l u t i o nw , h i c hi s o b v i o u
i a c tt h a t i t i s n o w i n s t i t u t i o n a l i z e "ds. u b s t a n c ec" a t rn o w L . tree d e i i n e a d st h e republicsand for technologic,
s u p p l e m e not f s o h d l t ya n d u n i t y g i v e nt o a s e r i e so i p h e n o m e n a by their pliedto naturaleventsbecause r
r o u t i n i z a t i o na n d b l a c k - b o x i n ga,n d w r o n g l v a t t r i b u t e dt o s o m e t h i n gl r ' - n o n h u m a nm s o b i l i z ebd y t h en
i n g b e l o we v e r y t h i n ga n dp o s s e s s i nagn o t h e rl i f e .T h e a d v a n t a g c ' ot hf en o - antiempiricistfights,socialhist
t i o n o f i n s t i t u t i o ni s t h a t i t i s n o t d i f f i c u l tt o e n t e r t a i nt h e i d e at h a t i t h a sa s i o n" p l a s t i c i t yo f n a t u r a lf a c t s
h i s t o r v a b e g i n n i n ga n d a n e n d .W i t h t h e n o t i o r ro [ i n s t r t L r t i otno a c c o u n t n b o l r ft h e m .P a s t e uar n dP o u c h
f o r t h e i r s o l i d i t ya n d t h e n o t i o no f t e c h n i c apl r o j e c t l 2t o a c c o u n ft o r t h e r r b e c a u s es ,ot h e h i s t o r i a n s a 1t;f
l o c a ld e p l o y m e n tn, û t u r à lf a c t sb e c o m ef i r m l l , a t t a c h e d t o t h e i rs p à t i o t e m - c o n t r i l r yt o t h ec l a i m so i e n r p i r i
poralenvelopes and stophoveringover their own l.todies like ghosts. f i r s t t a s ko f s o c i a hl i s t o r i a n s, . r

1 2 . P l o j e c t , l ' r ' o p p o s i t i r r n t o o i r i e c t , i s a n o roi gnitnoal ol g i c i l s t i l t e t h ù t h r s L r t - c ' nr *l oe cl lu - 1 3 . S e e l s a b e l l e S t e n g e r s ,L ' i t t i , t t t t ' i t

r n e n t e db v r e c e n th i s t o r v a n d s o c i o l o g vo f t c c h n o l o g l 'S . e c a b o v ea n c ' if,o r i n s t a n c t '\,\ ' i e b e for this Whiteheadian argurnent on des
B i j k e r ,O f B i c v c / t ' sB. , r k c / i t c so,n t l B u [ [ t s : T r t i t , L tLr tt]T l t , ' t r r vç . f- S o r ; r o f c c / r t i cCaûl r r ; r g c( C . t m - ercept that pragnrrltism is extended to t
b r i d e e :l \ 1I T P r e s s1. 9 9 5l . things.
 E - t l s t i / r S r rr i r l N o r re r l s f i r r g O ù l e c t s 263

npatibleand r-rntranslatable "para- T h i s r e w o r k i n go i t h e n o t i o no f s u b s t a n cies c r u c i a b l e c a u siet p o i n t st o

)asteurfrom Pouchet.Republican, a p h e n o m e n o nt h a t i s b a d l y a c c o u n t e d f o r b y h l s t o r y o f s c i e n c eh:o w d o
c e s st o t h e p o p u l a ra n t i - B o n a p a r t i s t p h e n o m e n ar e n t L t i ri r t e x i s t e n cw e i t h o u t a l a w o f i n e r t i a ?W h y c a n ' tl v e
neousgeneration.A dozenmicrobi- saythat Pasteuris right and Por-rchet wrong?Well, we cansayit, but on the
nceof this phenomenonof sponta- c o n d i t i o no f m a k i n gv e r y p r e c i s et h e i n s t i t u t i o n a lm e c h a n i s m tsh a t a r e
r m a tt h e p h e n o m e n iat w a sm a d eo f s t i l l a t w o r k t o m a i n t a i nt h e a s y m r n e t r yb e t w e e nt h e t w o p o s i t i o n sI.n
rltrrre a n dp r o t e c t i oang a i n scf o n t a - w h o s ew o r l d a r ew e n o w l i v i n g?T h a t o f P a s t e uor r t h a t o f P o u c h e t I?d o n ' t
e p a r a d i g m{si n t h e K u h n i a ns e n s e know about you, t.rutfor rny part, I live inside the Pasteuriannetwork,
t r / ci n c o m p a r i bbl ey t h es e r i eos i a s - e v e r yt i m e I e a tp a s t e u r i z eydo g u r t ,d r i n k p a s t e u r i z em d i l k ,o r s w a l l o wa n -
: d b y e a c ho f t h e t w o p r o t r g o n i s t s . t i b i o t i c sI.n o t h e rw o r d s ,e v e nt o a c c o u n ft o r a l a s t i n gv i c t o r y ,o n ed o e sn o t
: n t si n c o m m o n . haveto grant extrahistoricityto a researchprogramthat would suddenly,
ing difficult is that we imaginefor a t s o m eb r e a k i n go r t u r n i n gp o i n t ,n e e dt t of u r t h e ru p k e e pO. n e s i m p l yh a s
l e b i u n o r et h a nt h es e r i e so f i t s h i s - r og o o n h i s t o r i c i z i n g a n dl o c a l i z i n gt h e n e t w o r ka n df i n d i n gw h o a n dw h a t
ady to grant that the set oi perfor- m i r k eu p i t s d e s c e n d a n tIsn. t h i s s e n s eI p a r t a k ei n t h e " f i n a l " v i c t o r y o f
tworks and that they aredelineated Pasteurover Pouchet,in tl.resameway that I partakein the "iinal" victory
rut we cannotsuppressthe feeling of republicanover autocraticmodesof governrnentsby voting in the last
, n s t r a i n t tsh a nt h e p e r f o r m a n c eIst . p r e s i d e n t i ael l e c t i o ni n s t e a do f a b s t a i n i n go r r e f u s i n gt o b e r e g i s t e r e dT.o
been,like the Virgin Mary in the c l a i mt h a t s u c ha v i c t o r y r e q u i r e sn o l n o r ew o r k , n o m o r ea c t i o n n , o more
rysalreadythere,evenbeforeEve's institutionw , o u l d b e f o o l i s h .I c a ns i m p l y s a yt h a t I l i v e i n t h i s c o n t i n u e d
ted into Anna's womb at the right histor1,.1'l To claim that the evervwhereand alwaysof sucheventscover
r the notion of substance, but we t h e w h o l es p a t i o t e m p o r a ml a n i f o l dw o u l db e a t b e s ta n e x a g g e r a t i o n S.t e p
t h e w o r d ," w h a t l i e su n d e r n e a t h , " away from the networks,and cornpletelydifferent definitionsof yogurt,
'eneath " r h es e r i e so f i t s m a n i f e s t a - m i l k , a n d f o r m s o f g o v e r n m e n tw i l l a p p e a ra n d t h i s t i m e , n o t s p o n t a -
[inition of substance with its norion n e o u s l y. . .
e so f e n t i t i e sa n dm a k e st h e m a c ta s
r c e n t u r y",t h ea i r b o r n e g e r n r s h" a s
G R A N T I N GH I S T O R I C I T T
YO O B J E C T S
lmatic body of practicethat cannot
leness, is to be accountedfor by the This solution,which is obviousfor hurnan-rnadehistoricaleventssuchas
rstance"cannow be redefinedasthe republicsand for technological artifacts,seemsawkwardat first when ap-
to a seriesof phenornenaby their pliedto naturaleventsbecause we do not want to sharehistoricitywith the
'ongly attributedto somethingly- nonhumansmobilizedby the naturalsciences. Under the influenceof therr
other life.The advantageof the no- anriempiricist fights, social histor ians of science understandby the expres-
L l tt o e n t e r t a i nt h e i d e at h a t i t h a sa s i o n" p l a s t i c i t yo f n a t u r a lf a c t s "o n l y t h e d e b a t etsh a t h u m a n sa g e n t sh a v e
h e n o t i o no f i n s t i t u t i o nr o a c c o u n r riûolrf them. Pasteurand Por-rchet disagreeaboutthe interpretationof facts
r n i c apl r o j e c t l zt o a c c o u n ft o r t h e i r b e c a u s es ,ot h e h i s t o r i a n s a y t, h o s ef a c t sa r eu n d e r d e t e r n t i r t a
end dc a n n o t ,
f i r m l ya t t a c h etdo t h e i rs p a t i o t e m - contraryto the claimsof empiricists, forcerationalmindsinto assent.Sothe
their own bodieslike ghosts. first task of socialhistoriansand socialconstructivists, iollowing Hume's

r a l o n t o l o g r c asl t a t et h a t h a sb e e nr v c l ld o c u - 1 - 1S . c eI s a b e l LS- t e . n g e r L s ,' i r r i , r , r r t i orr/ lt , ss c r e ' l c cns r o r / c n r i ' (sP r r i s :L a D é c o u v e r t e , 1 9 9 - 3 ) ,

rologr'. See abor,eand, ior instarrce,Wiebe i o r t h i s W h i t e h e i r d i a na r g u r n e n to n t l e s c e n d a n caen d h e r i t a g e . T h riss a p r x g n l p l i t l
"rgument
a T I t t o r t l o f S o c i o t e t h t t i t t rC/ / r a n g c( C i r n r - e x c e p t h a t p r a g m a t i s r .ins e x t t ' n d c dt o t h i n g s , , r n dn o l o n g e rl i m i t e d t o h u m a n r e l a t i o n sw i t h
t hi n g s .
264 BRUNo LArouR E.rlsfliil

l i n eo f a t t a c kw , a st o s h o wt h a tw e ,t h e h u m a n sf,a c e dw i t h d r a m a t i c a l luy n - t h a t w o u l d e i t h e rn o t u s et h e l -
derdeterminedmattersof fact,hirveto enroil other resollrcesto reachcon- o b , j e c t s - n . r rt-r s et h e n o n h u r n
sensLls-our theories,ou r prejudices, or-rr professional o r politicaI loyalties, a n ds o c i afl a c t o r so n l y .T h e j o i n
our bodily skills,our standardizingconventions, etc.In their view,matters p e a r st o [ r e ,t o m y e y e sa t l e a s
of facthad to be bannedforeverfrom narrativeaboutscientificsuccess, be- tively madeover two decades 1
causeeitherthey weretoo underdetermined to shut down a controversy, ot forcesphilosophy,which had ,
worse,they could appearas the now bygonedisputeclosersof the realist valt'resupcriorto the collective
tradition. ing ir or ['y disrnanrling ir-
This tack,which lookedreasonable at first,tr-rrned out to beat besta gross cornpletelvdifferentroure.,thar
exaggeration of the abilitiesof socialscientiststo accountfor the closureof t on o n h u m a n s .
disputes,and at worst a devastatingrnovedeliveringthe new iield of social T h a t t h i s d i s c o v e r vc o u l dn o
h i s t o r i a n s t r a i g h ti n t o t h et e e t ho i F a f f n e a r n dF a s o l tW . h y ?B e c a u sseo c i a l o u s ,s i n c e" t h a t N o b l eD r e a mo f r
historianshad to acceptthat historicity,like the now-dismantledapartheid m i r n h i s t o r y f u l l o f n o i s ea n d I
in SouthAfrican buses,rvas"for humansonly," mattersof fact playing no b n c k g r o r u rodf n a r u r a l i z e de n t i
role at all in the controversvhuman agentshaveaboutthem.Justwhat the t i n y s u b p r o f e s s i odne, a h n ga r o n
dragonshad roaredal1along . . . The acquiescence of the two archenemies, mer "naturalcontext,"hadto pr-
socialconstructivists andrealists,to the very samemetaphysics for opposed theç unti\ rt reachedthe point wh
reasonshasalwaysbeenfor n1e.1 sourceof somemerriment. doesand whirt tloesnot htrvehist
A completelydifferentsourceof plasticityand agitationcanhoweverbe philosophicailvconsistenr, requ
easilydiscovered; it is the one that residesin the mattersof factthemselves. laborationrvith ontologv,meta
T h e r ei s n o t h i n gi n n a t u r e ,i n t h e s e r i e so f c a u s e a s n d c o n s e q u e n c et hs a, t ignoreor deny its existencelvor
dictatesforeverwhat fermentsaresupposed to do,to be,andhow they have achieved.Constructivismand r
to behaveonceexistence is definedasan eventandthat substances areredis- knowsthat,but the differencest
tributedinto associations and relations.The germscarriedby the air in Pas- a h i s t o r yh i r sm a n a g e d rorransf
teLrr'srue d'Ulm air pump experimentare certainlynot fhe sr.lrleas those s i t i o na b o u tn a t u r a l c n r i t i ei nstr
eggsthat spontaneously appearat Rouenin Pouchet'sflasks.They haveto t i o n i s tp o s i t i o nS . t r a n g ep a r a d o
be the sameonly if a sabstance hirvingno time and spaceis supposedto en-
dure uttrlerthepassingattributesthat humansdetectthrough their passing
C 0 N C L U S I 0 N :F R E E I N GS C
i n t e r p r e t a t i o nB s .u t t h i s i s p r e c i s e l tyh e p h i l o s o p h yo f e x i s t e n cteh a t h i s t o -
r i a n so f s c i e n c d e o n o t l i k e t o a p p l yw h e n o f f e r i n gt h e i r n a r r a t i v e so f h u - I do not claim,in this chapter,tt
man, technological, and social-historical events.Applied to things,sucha b u t s i r n p l vt o h a v ec l e a r e d t h ei n r
reluctancemakesasmuch sense. Asking wherethe gerrnsof the air of Paris t h e b e s tp r a c t i c o e I h i s r o r i a nos
were in 7864at the rue d'Ulm, bet'ore7864 anàaway from the rue d'Ulm, h a n d ,a n d t h e o n t o l o g i c apl r o b
for instancein Rouen,hasaboutasmuch meaningasaskingwherePasteur s e n s eo f t h e h i s t o r i c i t yo f t h i n g s
was beforehe was born, and rvherethe SecondEmpire rvasunder Lours cleareris the cluestionof the spa
Philippe'sreign.Answer:they were nof there.To be sure,they had ascen- I f t h e e n o r m o u sw o r k o f r e t r
dantsand predecessors, but thosebearonly family resemblances to them b o o kw r i t i n g , i n s t r u m e n tm a k i n
and r e l i e do n d i f f e r e n it r s s o c i a t r o n s . l o l i r l t i e sr n d g e n e a l o g i ei s i, g n
It is only the threat of relativism,in the versionadvocatedby the two microbesL'refore Pasteur?"takes
dragons,andthe threatof realism,in the versionsocialconstructivists have mind for a rninute or two. After
fought for twenty years,that iorcedus to expecta beff er answer,an answer comesempiricallyanswerable:I

1ans,facedwith dramaticallvun-
: o l lo t h e rr e s o u r c etso r e a c hc o n -
professional orpoliticalloyalties,
ntions,etc.In their view matters
ativeaboutscientificsuccess, be-
edto shut dow,na controversy, ot
:ne disputeclosersof the realist
'st,tu rnedout to beat best gross
a
t i s t st o a c c o u nfto r t h e c l o s u r eo i
deliveringthe new field of social
' a n dF a s o l tW . h y ?B e c a u sseo c i a l
' et h e n o w - d i s m a n t l eadp a r t h e i d
: n l y , " m a t r e r so f f a c tp l a v i n gn o
s haveaboutthem.Justwhat the
e s c e n coef t h e t w o a r c h e n e r n i e s ,
'v samemetaphysics for opposed
solTlemerrln-lent.
ity andagitationcanhoweverbe
n the mattersof factthemselves.
f causesand consequences, that
d to do,to be,andhow they have
rntandthat substances areredis-
3germscarriedby the air in Pas-
certainiy noTfhe srlnTe as îhose
n Pouchet'sflasks.They haveto
ime and spaceis supposedto en-
a n sd e t e c t h r o L r g thh e i r p a s s i n g
l o s o p h yo f e x i s t e n cteh a t h i s t o -
ofiering their narrativesof hu-
vents.Applied to things,sucha
lere the germsof the air of Paris
' a n da w a y f r o m t h e r u e d ' U l m ,
eaningasaskingwherePasteur
:cond Empire was under Louis
ere.To be sure,they had ascen-
y family resemblances to rhem
: versionadvocatedby the two
'sionsocialconstructivists
have
'.pect
a better answetan ânswer
Erlsflng Objccts 265
t h a t w o u l d e i t h e rl o f u s et h e h u m a n s - n , t t u r e b e i n gm a d eo f n h i s t o r i c a l
o l r j e c t s - r r o ru s e t h e n o n h t t m , t n s - c o l " t s e n sbues i n g r e a c h e db v h u m a n
a n ds o c i afla c t o r so n l y .T h ej o i n t h i s t o r i c i t vo f h u m a n sa n dn o n h u r n a nas p -
pearsto be, to my eyesat least,the totally unexpecteddiscovervcollec-
tively rlilde over two decades b,yhistoriarrsand sociologists of science.It
i o r c e sp h i l o s o p h vw, h i c h h a d s o h e a v i l vr e l i e do r r a d e i i n i t i o no i t r u t h -
vah.resrrperior ro rhe collectiveproductiortof history-either by defend-
ing it or by dismantling it-to become rettlist ttgttitt,but through a
c o m p l e t e l vd i f f e r e n tr o u r e ,r h a ti s ,b y e x t e n c l i nhgi s t o r i c i t ya n ds o c i r t b i l i t y
to norrhumans.
T h a t t h i s d i s c o v e r yc o u l dn o t b e m a d eb y " s t r a i g h t "h i s t o r i a n si s o b v i -
ous,since"1[n1\s[le Drearnof Objetivity" forcedthernto dealwith a hu-
m a n h i s t o r y f u l l o i n o i s ea n d i u r o r s ,w h i c h t o o k p l r r c ei r r s i c l c rl L t t u r û l
backcrortndof naturalizedentitiesthat they took ior granted Only our
t i n y s u b p r o f e s s i odne, a l i n ga t o n c ew i t h t h e " h u r n a ne l e m e n t "a n dt h e f o r -
m e r " n r l t u r acl o n t e x t , h" a dt o p u s ht h ep h i l o s o p h yo f h i s t o r ya l i t t l eb i t f u r -
ther,until it reachedthe point r,vhere the very distributiorrof rolesinto rvhat
doesandwhat doesnot havehistory wasperformed.This point,to be made
philosophicallyconsistent,reqr.rires, to be sure,an enorlnouseffort in col-
l a b o r a t i o nw i t h o n t o l o g ym , e t a r p h y s i casn, d t h e c o g n i t i v es c i e n c e sB.u t t o
i g n o r eo r d e n y i t s e x t s t e n clev o u l ds e e mi r p i t y n o r vt h a t s o m u c h h a sb e e n
achier,.'d. Constmctivismand realismare two syttottytlls'everv builder
knowsthat,but the differencesbetweenwhat doesand what doesnot have
a h i s t o r y ' h am s anaged t o t r a n s i o r mt,h r o u g ht h e y e a r si,l c o n s t r t l c t i \ r ips ot -
sition about naturâlentitiesinto a critical,skepticirl, irndevendeconstruc-
. t r a n g ep a r a d o xo f o u r i n t e l l e c t u ahl i s t o r y .
t i o n i s tp o s i t i o nS
FREEING SCIENCE FROM POLITICS
CONCLUSION:
I do not claim,in this chapter;to havepresentedphilosophicalarguments
b u t s i n t p l yt o h a v ec l e a r e tdh e i n t e r m e d i a r zv o n eb e t w e e nt h e n a r r a t i v eos f
t h e b e s tp r a c t i c eo f h i s t o r i a n so i s c i e n c ea r n ds c i e n c es t u d i e so, n t h e o n e
hand. and the orrtologicalpr-oblemsthat should now be tackletlto make
senseof the historicityoi things,on the other.What has,I hope,beenrnade
cleareris the questionof the spâtiotemporal envelopeof phenomena.
If the enormo';srvorkof retroiitting that requirestristorytelling,text-
book rvriting,instrument mirking,body training,creationof professional
loyaltiesand genealogies, is ignored,then the question"Where were the
m i c r o l r ebs e f o r eP i r s t e u r ?t"a k e so n a p a r . t l v z i n ga s p e ctth a t s t u p e f i e tsh e
mirrd ior a rnirtuteor two.After a few nrinutes,horvever,the tluestionbe-
comesernpiricallvanswerable:Pasteur,rlsotook careto extettdhis local
266 BRUNO LATOUR Ë,tlsflrr

productioninto other tirnesand spaces and to rn.rkethe r.rricrobes the sub-

strateof others'unwitting action;the Frenchsurgeonstakegreatpainsto
bring the mummy into directcontactwith the hospitalnetwork soi1sto ex-
year
p a r r dt h e e x i s t e n c o e f t h e K o c h b a c i l l u st o s p i l nt h e t h r e e - t h o r . r s a n d - v e a r With spontaneous
t86{
É l e n e r a t r o n a n dd
s t r e t c ha n t lt o b e r n a d c ' v i s i b lien s i d et h e l r r i t t l eb o n e sY. e s ,t h e r ea r es r r ô - no fenrents s
(il

t864

st(u1ces that havebeenthere all along,but on the conditionthat they are With a conflict
flict over yeâr
IEô4
mtrdethe suL.tstrate of activities,in the pastaswell asin space. rr The always- generaton m od
fennents rE6S
everywhere m i g h t b e r e a c h e db,u t i t i s c o s t l r a , ,n di t s l o c a l i z eadn dt e m p o r a l W i ! h f e r m e:nnt st 5 â n dd )_eâl
rE64
extensionremainsvisibleall the way.This can be made'clearerthrough a generaiion
ol
1866
look at figure 10.3. lvith mole ffemenb emenb
IEô]
When we say that RtrmsesII diedof tuberculosis, we now know almost a n d n o s p o n ( a n !o u s
genera(on
ol
r6ô7
a u t o m a t i c a l l tyh, a n v es h o u l da c c o u nfto r t h i se x t e n s i o n o f 1 8 9 2K o c hb a c i l -
lus onto the corpseof someonewho hasbeendeadfor more than threemil-
lenniaby taking into accountthe bringing of the mr-rmrnyin 1976to the With no strcntaneous
h
generatron, ç1th
s u r g i c atl a b l eo f a h i g h - t e c hb a c t e r i o l o g i sYt .e s t, h e b a c i l l u sh a sh e e nt h e r e enzymoio8l p.ebtôrics
rE64

and historvof rgth-

o l l a l o n g ,b u t o n l y a ft c r t h es a n i t a r yf l i g h tt o P a r i st h a t a l l o w e d" o u r s c i e n -
Second dimensi
tists" to retrofit all of Egyptianhistory with a Pharaohthat, frotn tton,ott,
sedimentary sur
c o u g h sa n ds p i t sK o c h ' sb a c i l l ie, v e r r v h e nd i s p u t i n gw i t h N 4 o s easb o u th o w of time
l o n g t h e T e nP l a g u e w s i l l l a s t. . . I t m i g h t t a k ea w h i l e b e f o r ej u g g l i n ge f - Figure10.3. Time'sarrorvis the r
fortlesslywith thosetimings,but thereis no logicalinconsistency in talking mension,the linearsuccession of tir
about the extensionin time of scientificnetworks,no more than thereare the secondone,sedimenta rv succe
discrepancie i nsf o l l o w i r r gt h e i re x t e n s i o ni n s p i r c eI t. c a ne v e nb e s , r i dt h a t 186-l).When n'easkthe qtrestion" \
the difficultiesin handlingthoseapparentparadoxes aresrnallcompareci to not reachthe top segmentof the co
t h e s m a l l e sot f t h o s eo f f e r e db y q u a n t u mm e c h a n i cosr c o s m o l o g y . trànsverseline that marksthe contl
the vear 186-1. This,however.implie
A f e we l e m e n t s h o u l dn o w b ec l e a ri n t h i sd i a l o e u eb e t r v e ehni s t o r va n d
tirne'sarrow alwaysmovesrrrl-\'er
p'hiiosophv.
H o p eI C a m b r i d g eH: a r v a r dU n i v e r
. I f t h e h i s t o r i c i t yo f h u m a n si s t r e a t e ds e p a r a t e lfyr o m t h ea h i s t o r i c - Presidentand Fellowsof HarvarclC
UniversityPress)
i t y o f n o n h u m a n s t, h e n t h e p r i n c i p l eo i s y m m e t r v ( B l o o r ' so n e ,
which fightswhiggism)cannorbe fully errforced.
. I f a s u b s t a n cies a d d e dt h a t w o u l dl i e u n d e rt h e r e l a t i o n so f a n v e n - u p , " " i n v e n t i n g , "" d i s c o v e r i
i n g , " " d e c o n s t r u c t i n g , "e t c .
t i t y - h n r n a n o r n o n h u m a n ,i n d i v i d u a lo r c o l l e c t i v e - t h e n d i s t o r -
' If existenceand realitt' are c
t i o n sw i l l r l p p e âirm r n e d i a t e l ivn t h e r e n d e r i n go I t h e i r h i s t o r r ,t' h
,e
i n s t i t u t i o n a l p r a c t i c et h a t e n l
s u b s t a n c . ' b e i nugn a b l et o h a v et h e s a m et i m i n g a n dt h e s a m es p r e a d
by a mysterious law of inerti
as its properties,one floatingat no costin time while the othersare
the empirical research of his
s t u c ki n s i d et h e p r e c i s ee n v e l o p eo f t h e i r f l e s h - a n d - b l o onde t w o r k s ;
t i o n , a n d s r a n c l a r d i z ; r t i oor ri "
s m o n g" m a k i n g
t h i s d i s t o r t i o nw i l l p r o d u c ea r t i f a c t u adl i i i e r e n c e a
asuell 0sin time. Forany ent
a d e e p r e a r r a n g e m e n ri n s p a c
1 - 1S . o t h e r e a r e n v o p r a c t i cmi rel a n i n g s n o n ' g i v t ' n t o t h e r v o r d " s u L , s t a n c e " ; o n e i s t h e i n -
s t i t u t i o nt h a t h o l d st o g e t h e râ \ ' â s tr r r n v o f p r â c t i c âsl e t u p s.,1 sw c s . r \ \ ' i l b ( r vaen. d t h e o t h e ro n e cally.
i s t h e r e t r o l i t t r n gw o r k t h a t s i t u a t e sa m o r c r e c e n te \ e n t a s t h a t w h i c h " l i t ' sb t ' n c . r t h "a n o l d e r . I f a s h a r p d e m a r c a t i o nb e t w
requested, in the manner mr
 E . r rs f l n t . . r? d N o r re - r l s f i r l g O l t i e c t s 267

d to make the microbesthe sub- First dimension:

1 c hs u r g e o n st a k eg r e a tp a i n st o linear succession
of time
the hospitalnetworksoasto ex- r863 t864 I turh
yeer
) spanthe three-thousand-year lvith spontaneous r864
generaûon ano
of
rrittle bones.Yes,there aresub- no fermen!s t r86d
year
t on the conditionthat they are With â conflict
flict o!er
over
t5 rE64
a sw e l l a si n s p a c er. lT h ea l w a y s - geneÉtion m
mdd of
r86t
fements
ly, andits localizedandtemporal With 'nts a
f!rments no
and
IE64
neous
less spontaneous Irreversible
s can be madeclearerthrough a generation
of
rE66 movement
year
lvi!h mor! ffemens
emenB of time
I E64
rerculosis, we now know,almost and no spontaneous
t !n e r â t i o n
of
r667
ris exrensionoftSgZKochbacil-
endeadfor more than threemil- I -1
g of the mummy in 1976to the Wiih no spontâneous year
teneretion. with 1E64
. Yes,the bacillushasbeenthere !n z t m o l o g l prebioti
and histort of rgth'
t o P a r i st h a ta l l o w e d" o u r s c i e n -
r998

Second dimension:
rh a Pharaohthat,fronr now on,
s e d i m e n t a r ys u c c e s s i o n
l i s p u t i n gw i t h M o s e sa b o u th o w of time
t . r k ea w h i l e b e f o r e . l u g g l i negf - Figure10.3. Time'sarrorvis the resultof two dimensiorls, not one:the first di-
r logicalinconsistency in talking mension,the linearsuccession of time,alwaysrnovesforward(1865is nff er 186'l);
rnvorks,no more than there are the secondone,sedimentarl'succession, tnovesltackward(1865occursbcfor-c
i n s p a c eI .t c a ne v e nb e s a i dt h a t 1864).When rveaskthe question"Where wasthe fermentbefore1865?" we do
rilradoxesaresmallcomparedto not reachthe top segmentof the'columnthat makesup the vear 1864,but only the
rechanicsor cosmology. transverse line that marksthe contributionof the vear 1865to the elaborationof
the vear 186-{.This,however,irnpliesno idealismor backwardcausation, since
risdialoguebetweenhistory and
time'sarrow alwavsmovesirreversiblyforward.(FrornBruno Larour,Pandors's
Hopc ICambridge:Harvard UniversityPress,1999],171;copyrightO 1999by the
c p i r r a t e l fyr o m t h e a h i s t o r i c - Presidentand Fellon'sof HarvardCollege.Reprintedby permissionof Harvard
UniversitvPress)
of syrnrnetry (Bloor's one,
er.r iorced.
u p , " " i n v e n t i n g , " " d i s c o v e r i n g , "" c o n s t r u c t i n g , " " s o c i a l l yc o n s t r u c t -
n d c r t h e r e l a t i o n so f a n y e n -
i n g ," " d e c o n s t r u c t l n g" ,e t c .
I or collective-then distor-
. If existenceand reality are detachedat some turning point frorn the
rrderingof their history,the
institutional practice that enforces them, and relayed from there on
: t i m i n g a n dt h e s a m es p r e a d
by a mysterious law of inertia, then it becomes impossible to extend
i n t i m e w h i l e t h e o t h e r sa r e
the empirical research of historians to the stabilizaTion,routiniza-
ir flesh-and-bloodnetworks;
t i o n , a n d s t a n d a r d i z a t i o no f " d e f i n i t i v e l y " e x i s t i n g e n t i t i e s ,i n s p a c e
differencesamong "making
L1srL)ellas in time. For any entity to gain definitive âccessto existence,
a deep rearrangement in spaceand time has to be worked out practi-
r t o t h e r v o r d" s u b s t a n c e "o; n e i s t h e i n -
' t u p sa
, sw e s â r vâ b o v ea, n d t h e o t h e ro n e cally.
n t a st h a tw h i c h" l i e sb e n e a t h a" n o l d e r . If a sharp demarcation between existing and nonexisting objects is
requested, in the manner made popular by the philosophy of lan-
 268 BRUNO L.\TOUR Existitt

g u a g et,h e n t h e d i f i e r e n t i a t i o n o i t h e e n v e l o p eosf t , a r i o u sn t - n v o r k s i s t i m e ,i f i t i s a g o o de n o u g hr t
can no longerL.emadeempiricallyclear,the l.rattleior existenceand Big Bangs,not deemec.l stablee
n o n e x i s t e n coeb f u s c a t i n gt h e s u b t l ee x p l o r a t i o n so f p t o r t i n le r i s - thoseentitiesthemselves ?As i
t e t t c e s . D e r n a r c a t i tosnh, o u l db eu n d e r l i n e di s, t h er n o r a lp, h i l o s o p h - B e y o n dt h a rc o u l dh o l ds o c i e t
i c a l ,a n c lh i s t o r i c ael n e m y o i d i f f e r e n t i a t i o nT.h e c l a i r nt o r n o r a l i t y purely contingentreasons, hal
m a d eb y d e m a r c a t i o n i sitsse n t i r e l yu n w a r r a n t e ds i n c eo, n t h e c o n - ence,but is in no way relâtedt(
t r a r y ,r e l i r t i v i s m
i s t h eo n l y r v a vt o p a yt h e i u l l c o s to f t h ee x t e n s i o n in accountingfor their progresse
spaceantltir.neof truth-valu!.sortdtltent(1it1tL't1tln(t, thereof. we coulddisentangle the politir
. T o a v o i dt h e d a n g e r o s f r e l a t i v i s r ne,s p e c i a l ltyh o s eo f h a v i n gm a j o r - t h a to f d e s c r i b i ntgh e h i s t o r y,
ity rule imposedin rnattersof knowledge,realistshadto pushrratters takenif we coulddepoliticizetl
o f f a c ti n t o n o n h i s t o r i c anl a t u r el i n t i t i r t gh i s t o r yt o s o c i e t ya n d h u - t e n r o l o g ya n . 1H i g h e rS u p e r si f
m a n p i r s s i o n tso; a v o i dt h ed a n g e r so f r e a l i s me, s p e c i i l l ltyh o s eo i c r e - icalreasons...?
ating a suprasocialand sr,rprahistorical scientificauthority, socral
c o n s t r u c t i v i s thsa d t o t t l t s t a i ni r o m u s i n s m a t t e r so f f a c tt o a c c o u n r
f o r t h e c l o s u r eo f h i s t o r i c açl o n r r o v e r s i ei ns s c i e n c et h; e r e s u l tr v a st o
i m a g i n ee i t h e rt h a t a n o n h i s t o r i c a l a nndo n c o l l e c t i vleu d g ew a sn e c -
e s s a r yf ( ) r d i f f e r e n t i a t i n gk n o w l e d g ec l a i m s o , r r h a t s o c i a lh i s t o r y
s h o u l d n e v e r u s e t h i n g s - i n - t h e m s e l v eesx, c e p t t o d e b u n k t h e i r
c l a i m st o c l o s u r ea n de x p o s et h e i r p l a s t i c i t yH. o w e v e ra, ss o o na sh i s -
toricity and socialization are extendedto rll/ membersof collectives,
t h e t w i n l i m i t so f r e l a t i v i s ma n dr e a l i s ma r ea l l e v i a t e da,sw e l l a st h e
s t r a n g em e t a p h v s i cosr p o l i t i c apl h i l o s o p h yt h e y t h o u g h tn e c e s s i l r ' y
to endorse. As Whiteheadshor.vs in his cosmo]ogy,rc'alismand rela-
t i v i s mar e s y n o n y m o uesx p r e s s i o n s .

B y t h i s c o n t r i b u t i o r ri n, t e r m e d i a r yb e t n , e e n p h i l o s o p h ya n d h i s t o r yo f
s c i e n c e - o rb e t t e ro, n t o l o g ya n dt h et h e o r yo f h i s t o r yo i s c i e n c e - l h o p et o
h a v ef o l l o w e dt h e i r r t e n to f t h i sv o l u m ea n do p e n e da t l ea s ts o r n ec o n v e r s a -
t i o n s a b o u tt h e p h i l o s o p h yo f h i s t o r v t h a t r v o u l dd o j u s r i c er o t h e r n o r e
s c h o l a r l yr v o r k p r e s e n t e di n t h e o t h e r e s s a y sA. f a s c i n a t i n gq u e s t i o nt o
t a c k l en o w r v o u l db e t o u n d e r s t a n d w h y , i f I a m r i g h t i n t h i n k i n gt h a t t h e
t h o r o u g h g o i n gh i s t o r i c i z a t i ohne r eo f f e r e di s n e i t h e ri n c o n s i s r e nnto r i n
d a n g e ro f b e i n gm o r a l l yb a n k r u p ti,t i s n o n e t h e l e sssod i f i i c u l tt o e n t e r t ù i n
a n d s o p e n l o u st o d e f e n dW . h a t i s e s p e c i a l lpr ,u' z z l i n gr o m e i s t h a t m a n 1 ,
naturalscientistshavealreadyrenderedthe lr,orlditselfpart of historl',n61
o n l v t h e l i v i r r go r g a n i s m o s f D a r w i r r i a nt h e o r vb r - rat l s oc o s m o l o g y . W
't hy

l5.SeetheclassjcL.ooksofStephenJnyGould.esp.l\rotrdcrlulLift:T/rcBrrrrcss-(Àn1cnrr,/
t / r , 'N r rt r r r co f H r s t o r y( N e n \ i ; r k : V V W . . N - o r r o n1, 9 E 9 )I.n l o u l d p r o b . r b l vl r ei n t t r t s t i r r qt o e n -
t e r i n t o â c o n v e r s : l r i ornv i t h " e v o l u t i o n a r vc . p i s t e m o l o r r " ' atth i s p c ' i n t ,i o r i n s t r n c eD : r v i t lL .
H u l l , - S c i c r l r : L r' ri 7Psr d a r ' s i : . ' 1f,l 1
' t r / r t t i o t t r t r rA/ c t o u t t t , r ft h r ' - S i r c i nùl n ( lC r ) n i a l l t t N D
l ,'i'c/o7,
r r r c r rof . f- Ç c l c r r c t ' ( C h i c aU go n :i v e r s i n ' o f C h i c a g oP r e s s1, 9 8 8 ) .
 E"rlsti tlt atld Norr existitt g Obi ects 269

is time,if it is a goodenoughrepositoryior animal boclies, for particles,for

n\,elopes of varior'rs networks
Big Bangs,nor deemedstabieenoughfor the knowledgeclaimsmadeabout
r, the battle for existenceand thàseentitiesthemselves ?As if somethingelsewereneeded,an Aboveand
e x P l o r a t i o nosf P n r if r i / ' ' l i s - Beyond that could hold society andmorality together?Somethingthat,for
linec{,is the moral,PhilosoPh- pur.ly conringenr reasons,happens to be rnixedup with the history of sci-
i a t i o n .T h e c l a i r nt o m o r a l i t v .n.., tr, is in no way related to the question of describingthe sciences and
nrvarrantedsince,on the con- accountingfor their progressand demise. What progresscould we make if
thefuli costof the extensionin we coulddisentangle the politicalquestion of maintaining socialorder from
n'tttint ennnce thereof' that of describingthe history of the sciences? What stepforward couldbe
-
r e c i a l l yt h o s et r ih i r v i n gm, ' r J o l from the heavyburdenthat epis-
takenifwe coulddepoiiticizethe sciences
ge,realistshadto Pushn]iltters temologyandHigher Superstitions haveimposedon them for purely polit-
i,rt history to societYand hu- icalreasons...?
especiallY thoseo{ cre-
"ulirrn, authorit)" socitrl
cal scientific
sirrgmattersttf fact to.account
;iesin science; the resultwasto
d nclncoilective judgewas llec-
: c l a i m s ,o r t h a t s o c i a lh i s t o r Y
:lves, except to debunk their
;ticity.However,assoonashis-
clto rrl/membersof coliectives'
surare alleviated,aswell tlsthe
rsophytheY thought necessarY
ls Àsmology, realismand rela-

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to
orv of historYof science-l hoPe
an.1openedat leâstsoûle conversa-
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that would do jr'rsticeto the
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me is that t.nanr
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