Why is a Latourian Approach to Design Relevant Today? Five Statements

Abstract

The Science and Technology Studies (STS) tradition ‘flourished’ in the 1980s in the aftermath of the structuralism wave and generated new concepts and methodologies for the understanding of society, technological innovation and design. In the past two decades STS, and in particular Actor-Network-Theory (ANT), associated with the name of Bruno Latour, gained popularity among researchers in the fields of design and architecture studies. This article will outline the key epistemological offerings of Latour’s social theory for design researchers. I will present five key arguments from the work of Bruno Latour: We Have Never Been Modern, There is no Society. Follow the Actors, Objects Mediate Social Relations, We are Locked in the Critical Zone, Give me a Gun and I will Make All Buildings Move. I will then introduce key methodological insights for developing a pragmatist approach to design, inspired by Latour.