Books - Politics of Nature

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	Books - Politics of Nature

Politics of Nature: How to Bring the Sciences Into Democracy (2004, ISBN 0674012895) is an influential book by the French theorist and philosopher of science Bruno Latour. The book is an English translation of the French book, Politiques de la nature by Catherine Porter. It is published by Harvard University Press.

In the book, Latour argues for a new better take on political ecology that embraces his feeling that, "political ecology has nothing to do with nature." In fact, Latour argues that the idea of nature is unfair because it unfair allows those engaged in political discourse to "short-circuit" discussions. Latour uses the Socratic metaphor of "the cave" to describe the current role of nature and Science in separating facts from values which is the role of politics and non-scienctists. Building on the arguments leveled in his previous works, Latour argues that this distinction between facts and values is rarely useful and in many situations dangerous. He claims that is leads to a system that ignores nature's socially constructed status and creates a political order without "due process."

Instead, he calls for a "new Constitution" where different individuals can assembly democratically without the definitions of facts and values influenced by current attitudes towards nature and scientific knowledge. Latour describes an alterate set of rules by which this assembly, or collective as he calls it, might come together and be constituted. He also describes the way that individuals will be allowed in or out in the future. In describing this collective, Latour warns against the idea of the spokesperson and argues in favor a collective that involves both "humans and non-humans."

The book includes a short summary at the end and a glossary of terms.

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