This guided book club delves into Bruno Latour's Actor Network Theory (ANT) as laid out in his book Reassembling the Social.

The class will focus on the five primary components of actor network theory: first, the notion that there are "no groups, only group formation," challenging us to see social aggregates as constantly being made and remade rather than existing as stable entities; second, that "action is overtaken," meaning it is never fully controlled by consciousness but rather distributed across networks; third, that "objects have agency too," expanding the concept of actors beyond humans to include non-human entities as active participants in social networks; fourth, the distinction between "matters of fact and matters of concern," questioning the status of facts and their construction; and fifth, how writing accounts of actor-networks involves risks and choices that shape our understanding. The course examines how these points fundamentally reshape “social inquiry” by rejecting predetermined categories and instead tracing the dynamic, heterogeneous assemblages that emerge through network relationships.

This class, like previous Latour classes taught at Black Spring Books, is discussion-based. Students will be expected, though not required, to read one chapter a week. No experience or previous background necessary.

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Brett Jackson is a Historical Anthropology PhD candidate at Michigan State University specializing in the intersection of politics, technology, social change and knowledge production. His research employs Actor Network Theory to examine the historical and ongoing relationships between American Archaeology, Red Power, Science and Liberal Logics, particularly as they existed during the Cold War and into today. Jackson has taught classes in archaeology, anthropology and Latourian theories & methods.