why I'm reading the whole book
My Reassembling the Social came in the mail (good gravy--it took WEEKS) a few days ago.
I'm reading the whole thing. Here's why: Latour is a riot to read. For instance, he distinguishes between agency and figuration to show us that it is important to see how the ways in which we name actions (or the ways we figure them) does not take away from who (or what) is actually performing the action. ANT works to break from 'figurative sociology' (54) by using the term "actant" (54) so that anyTHING that spurs action is equal in its considerability.
Oh, I got away from myself. I started out wanting to show you a passage that explains why I'm having such a good time with Latour. In describing what figuration is, Latour explains, "To say 'culture forbids having kids out of wedlock' requires, in terms of figuration, exactly as much work as saying 'my future mother-in-law wants me to marry her daughter" (53). He's good with the examples.
And he's also good with the directives: "Recording not filtering out, describing not disciplining, these are the Laws and the Prophets" (55).