Politics of Nature: How to Bring the Sciences Into Democracy

Bruno Latour‘s Politics of Nature offers an original project of experimental metaphysics.

Latour’s aim is to develop a new political ecology that would be able to bridge the gap between scientific practices and democracy. According to the French philosopher, this project requires a rethinking of three fundamental concepts in Western philosophy: logos, phusis, and polis. Drawing on ideas from the sociology of sciences, comparative anthropology, and political philosophy, and departing from a radically new understanding of ecology, Latour offers a program for the making of a "common world," where non-human actors are equal to humans.  

At the centre of the discussion is the concept of political ecology—a recent idea that has given rise to environmentalist movements in politics. Looking at the roots of the current stalemate in political ecology, Bruno Latour reveals contradictions in its theoretical foundations, which have led to confusion in the discipline’s understanding of itself and of its motivation. In reality, argues Latour, political ecology cannot care for the environment for several reasons.