Dialogues between Bruno Latour and Ulrich Beck: Convergences and divergences

Abstract

This paper aims to expose and reflect on the debate between remarkable social scientists of our time: Ulrich Beck and Bruno Latour. However, I still suggest that this debate goes beyond the level of their convergences and divergences in providing indicative of some trends in the humanities. One aspect that I intend to discuss refers to what I see as an “anthropological openness” of the human sciences, which in no way corresponds to his anthropologization. I argue that due the proliferation of crises sociologists and political scientists tend to open their macro-explanatory schemes of social scrutiny and the combination of anthropological methodologies as a mean of finding bases for new parameters that can delimit normative political projects.