Aramis, or the Love of Technology

Aramis, or the Love of Technology
Author Bruno Latour
Translator Catherine Porter
Language English
Publisher Harvard University Press
Publication date
 1993
Media type Print (Hardback)
ISBN ISBN 978-0-674-04323-7
OCLC 277985319

Aramis, or the Love of Technology, was written by French sociologist/anthropologist Bruno Latour. Aramis was originally published in French in 1993; the English translation by Catherine Porter, copyrighted in 1996, ISBN 978-0-674-04323-7, is now in its fourth edition (2002). Latour describes his text as "scientifiction," which he describes as "a hybrid genre... for a hybrid task" (p. ix). The genre includes voices of a young engineer discussing his "sociotechnological initiation," his professor's commentary which introduces Actor-network theory (ANT), field documents - including real-life interviews, and the voice of Aramis—a failed technology ([1] p. x).

The book is a quasi-mystery, which attempts to discover who killed Aramis (personal rapid transit). Aramis was supposed to be implemented as a Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system in Paris. Simultaneously, while investigating Aramis's demise, Latour delineates the tenets of Actor-network theory. Latour argues that the technology failed not because any particular actor killed it, but because the actors failed to sustain it through negotiation and adaptation to a changing social situation.

Table of contents

  1. An Exciting Innovation
  2. Is Aramis Feasible?
  3. Shilly-Shallying in the Seventies
  4. Interphase: Three Years of Grace
  5. The 1984 Decision: Aramis Exists for Real
  6. Aramis at the CET Stage: Will it Keep its Promise?
  7. Aramis is Ready to Go (Away)

See also

References

  1. ↑ Latour, Bruno. (1996). Aramis, or the Love of Technology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.