How Better to Register the Agency of Things: A Roundtable Discussion with Bruno Latour, Daniel Kevles, Joanna Radin, Adam Tooze, and Philip Gorski

March 28, 2014

In this roundtable discussion with Yale faculty, moderated by Daniel Kevles, panelists and audience members discuss ideas from Bruno Latour’s two Tanner lectures, together titled “How Better to Register the Agency of Things.” This conversation occurred on March 28, 2014, as part of the Tanner Lectures on Human Values at the Whitney Humanities Center at Yale. The discussion opens with a focus on the role and influence of ecology, war, and religious thought on Latour’s most recent work and moves through a range of topics organized around the keywords networks, diplomacy, and fundamentalism. Latour is Professor and Vice President for Research at Sciences Po in Paris. Daniel Kevles is Stanley Woodward Professor of History, History of Medicine, and American Studies. Joanna Radin is Assistant Professor in the History of Medicine, of Anthropology, and of History. Adam Tooze is Barton M. Biggs Professor of History. Philip Gorski is Professor of Sociology.