Strange Dichotomy: Space and Time in Actor-Network Theory

Abstract

The space / time opposition is a strange dichotomy for actor-network theory: on the one hand, places and moments are treated as non-reducible; on the other, B. Latour constantly underlines that they are secondary in relation to the interactions of actants. In the first part of the paper, the principle of generalised symmetry is regarded as methodological justification for eclecticism. We distinguish between three images of space-time: semiotic, ontological and material. Then, in the second part, we try to show the tension between the conceptualization of space and that of time in actor-network theory. In the third part, the analysis of the article dedicated to J. Piaget in 1997 clarifies the uncertainty of the initial dichotomy. The incoherency of Latour's thought is explained by referring to the transitional position of spatial and temporal categories between actants and purified subjects / objects of modernity.