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1/ The first chapter of 'Où suis-je?' (which I covered in my previous thread) established Latour’s Gaian conceptualisation of humans as those who construct & extend outwards the interior of their habitable space according to the model of “la termitière”. https://www.editionsladecouverte.fr/ou_suis_je_-9782359252019
2/ The second chapter shows how this model applies at all domains & scales of existence: individual existence, urban existence, social existence, & our existence “in nature”. It is a crucial statement of Latour's philosophy of Gaian interconnectedness.
3/ So here is Gregor Samsa again in his room. In his metamorphosed existence, G. realises he can mould & form his local environment by his actions & in doing so regain freedom. “Le confiné se déconfine à merveille. Il commence à retrouver une grande liberté de mouvement” (p.20).
4/ Gregor resides in Prague, a city that lies beyond the four walls of his room. But neither is this city a thing that is “outside”. It too is a networked space whose channels spread out from & around us, like a termitary.
5/ Thus, “la ville est l’exosquelette de ses habitants, comme les habitants laissent derriere eux un habitat dans leurs sillages” (p.18). (Latour's thoughts here build on his wonderful book 'Paris: Ville Invisible')
6/ The city is almost an organic extension of our own activities (as was memorably shown by the empty streets & shops during lockdown, which did not have the feel of a city at all, “sans habitants pour les animer”, p.18). Thus, “la ville […] émane de ses habitants” (p.23).
7/ Or think about “nature”. Is this really “dehors”? Latour tells the story of the geology of the Vercors Massif. The Urgonian limestone cliff face is composed of bioclasts: skeletal fossil fragments of once living marine or land organisms laid down in the Early Cretaceous.
8/ Thus, even a mountain (le Grand Veymont) constitutes “une autre conurbation géante, depuis longtemps désertée par ses habitants” (p.19), engendered by “un long travail d’astuce et d’ingénierie d’animalcules innombrables” (p.20).
9/ Our social environments are the same: they are real only to the extent that they are progressively composed by innumerable agency contributions, provided by all sorts of actors, human & non-human; “des travailleurs”, “des animalcules” or “des agencements subtils” (p.22).
10/ We would better off if we understood the outside world - codeword “nature” – not as "fixed entity", nor as object to be saved, but as composition that is subtended by actors, human & nonhuman, ancient & modern: “elle est surtout composée d’artifices et d’artificiers” (p.22).
11/ Farewell to the concept of providence! Nothing outside ourselves has determined the conditions of our existence. Would we suggest to the termite or ant that the fine-tuned system of their termitary or ant-colony had been donated to them by a benevolent force? By no means!
12/ On the contrary, the termite or ant would reply that “c’est elle et les milliards de ses congéneres qui ont émis cet environnement qui sort d’elles”. And this holds for all environments, evn our own: “ce sont les vivants qui l’ont rendue favorable à leurs desseins” (p.23).
13/ Latour enjoyed childhood stories of shipwrecked people finding high ground on an island (eg. Jules Verne’s "L’Île mystérieuse"). Well, the first thing these characters do is find high ground to determine where they are and how they can inhabit this space ...
14/ ... from height, they have a reassured sense there there is an edge to their environment & that they will be able to imbricate themselves in its dense foliage in order to make a habitation and survive. It is not "le grand dehors".
15/ Similarly, during lockdown, we too feel disorientated & without vantage-point. But like those island survivors there is comfort in knowing that “nous devinons le bord depuis l’intérieur, par transparence en quelque sorte” (p.24).
16/ Latour concludes the chapter. The inside (“le dedans”, p.26) is the space that is subject to all these agency configurations, whether it happens to be near to us or far from us in space.
17/ This is the space of the Earth, it is the Critical Zone, itt is ‘l’en deçà Terre”, & those who inhabit it are “les terrestres”. “c’est avec eux que je cherche a entrer en relation en lancant mes appels” (p.26), says Latour.
18/ There is nothing outside the space. Only, I guess, the “l’univers”, for example the Moon. Although we may know a lot about the universe we do not have “l’expérience directe” (p.26) of it. Conclusion: we need to think about conditions of habitability HERE on this Earth.
