拉图尔的空间观与人类学：关于局部与全局的理论探讨

李晋

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May 2026

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Citation: LI Jin. Anthropology and Latour's Theory of Space: A Theoretical Reflection on the Local and the Global[J]. Academic Monthly, 2026, 58(5): 116-129. shu

Anthropology and Latour's Theory of Space: A Theoretical Reflection on the Local and the Global

LI Jin

Abstract

Since the 1990s,anthropology has sought to move beyond an exclusive focus on the “local” and to attend to broader questions of routes and networks.This shift revealed how a Euclidean conception of space has shaped traditional anthropological understandings of the relationship between the local and the global.Actor-network theory helps to extend this line of inquiry.It proposes that analysis should begin with local interactions in order to trace how influence circulates,and then link these sites into accounts of the global.At the same time,each node in the network,as a site where local interactions take place,is also a node within other actor-networks oriented in different directions.For Latour,the relationship between the local and the global must be traced on a flat plane,rather than understood as a nested structure characteristic of Euclidean spatial thinking.By placing Latour's spatial conception in comparison with other anthropological approaches to space,this article shows how actor-network theory unsettles some of anthropology's most deeply ingrained spatial assumptions.Drawing on recent award-winning ethnographies,it argues that Latour's reconfiguration of space constitutes one of the most significant shifts in contemporary anthropology.
- Latour,
- actor-network theory,
- anthropology of space,
- anthropological methods
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1. [1]
  WANG Gang . Viewing the Cultural Intent of the “Xueheng School” from Hu Xiansu's Teachers and Friends's Group. Academic Monthly, 2026, 58(7): 206-216.
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  LIN Shangli . China's Mission in Constructing Original Theories and Its Methodological Foundation. Academic Monthly, 2026, 58(7): 5-11.
4. [4]
  WEN Jun . From Technical Tokens to Social Tokens: the Ontological Construction of Token Sociology. Academic Monthly, 2026, 58(8): 145-156.
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  NI Liangkang . The Philosophy of History of “New Idealism” after Hegel: Neo-Hegelianism. Academic Monthly, 2026, 58(7): 12-22.
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  YING Qi . Hegel's Conception of Reconciliation and the Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns. Academic Monthly, 2026, 58(7): 23-31.
8. [8]
  SUO Liming , WEI He'ning . Platform Transition: The Re-Evolution of Network Governance Model. Academic Monthly, 2026, 58(7): 90-103.
9. [9]
  SHEN Yifei . Theoretical Genealogies of the Emotional Economy and the Chinese Context. Academic Monthly, 2026, 58(7): 129-142.
10. [10]
  LIU Wei . Several Important Theoretical Issues Needing Further Clarification for the Growth and Expansion of the Private Economy. Academic Monthly, 2026, 58(7): 41-53.

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通讯作者: 陈斌, bchen63@163.com

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Anthropology and Latour's Theory of Space: A Theoretical Reflection on the Local and the Global

LI Jin

Abstract: Since the 1990s,anthropology has sought to move beyond an exclusive focus on the “local” and to attend to broader questions of routes and networks.This shift revealed how a Euclidean conception of space has shaped traditional anthropological understandings of the relationship between the local and the global.Actor-network theory helps to extend this line of inquiry.It proposes that analysis should begin with local interactions in order to trace how influence circulates,and then link these sites into accounts of the global.At the same time,each node in the network,as a site where local interactions take place,is also a node within other actor-networks oriented in different directions.For Latour,the relationship between the local and the global must be traced on a flat plane,rather than understood as a nested structure characteristic of Euclidean spatial thinking.By placing Latour's spatial conception in comparison with other anthropological approaches to space,this article shows how actor-network theory unsettles some of anthropology's most deeply ingrained spatial assumptions.Drawing on recent award-winning ethnographies,it argues that Latour's reconfiguration of space constitutes one of the most significant shifts in contemporary anthropology.

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通讯作者: 陈斌, bchen63@163.com

Anthropology and Latour's Theory of Space: A Theoretical Reflection on the Local and the Global

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