France yesterday lost Bruno Latour, considered one of its most influential and versatile intellectuals. The 75-year-old philosopher, anthropologist and sociologist had become a world leader in contemporary environmental thinking.
Latour had a hard time being recognized in his own country. The New York Times described him in 2018 as "the most celebrated and the most misunderstood of French philosophers." Yesterday President Emmanuel Macron himself recalled it.
The head of state published a tweet in which he paid tribute to the "thinker of ecology, modernity or religion" and said that Latour "was a humanist and plural spirit, recognized throughout the world before being recognized in France." "His reflection on him, his writings, will continue to inspire us on new relationships with the world." Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said Latour's work "will continue to raise awareness."
Inspiring politicians, activists and even artists, Latour was paid one of the most emotional tributes by Yannick Jadot, the green candidate in the last two presidential elections. The current MEP lamented the loss "of an immense intellectual" and of "a companion of extraordinary humanity, a man who in each exchange, in each reading, made us more intelligent and more alive".
Born in 1947 in Beaune, in the Burgundy region, into a family of wine merchants, Latour studied philosophy in France, earned a doctorate with a theology thesis, and then became interested in anthropology during fieldwork in Costa of ivory. He also taught at engineering schools. He covered, therefore, numerous disciplines, but always achieving scientific coherence.
Winner of the prestigious Holberg (2013) and Kyoto (2021) prizes for his body of work, Latour was the author of already classic books that were often published before in English than in French, such as Life in the Laboratory (1979), Science in action (1987), We were never modern (1991) or Hope (1999). More recently he wrote Face à Gaïa: Huit conférences sur le nouveau régime climatique (2015).
During the first part of his career, Latour focused on how to manage research and how society creates values and truths. He later became interested in the environmental crisis and was one of the first to perceive the relevance of ecological thinking.
In an interview with the AFP agency that was reproduced yesterday by several French media, Latour stressed that the climate emergency and the covid pandemic are related crises and reveal a "struggle between geosocial classes." “Capitalism has dug its own grave; now it is about repairing”, affirmed the thinker.
