Matters of Concern

= a concept by Bruno Latour, which critiques the mere objectivity of 'matters of fact', from a networked point of view

Description

"Matters of concern" is a concept developed primarily by Bruno Latour as a critique of modern forms of critique and objectivity. The concept opposes the reduction of reality to isolated, supposedly self-evident "matters of fact."

Latour argued that modern thought often treats facts as stable, objective entities existing independently of the networks and practices through which they are produced and maintained. While facts are real, they do not emerge in isolation. Scientific objects, social realities, and political issues arise from complex assemblages of humans, non-humans, technologies, institutions, practices, and values.

A matter of concern is therefore an issue understood as a gathering or assemblage of heterogeneous actors and relationships. Such issues are not merely discovered but continually assembled, maintained, and contested.

Latour writes:

"The critic is not the one who debunks, but the one who assembles."

The concept seeks to move beyond simplistic distinctions between objective facts and subjective values by emphasizing the networks through which realities become socially and materially meaningful.

Matters of concern played a major role in the development of Actor-Network Theory and later ecological and posthuman thought.

Examples

Examples include:

• Climate change, which is not merely a set of atmospheric measurements but a nexus involving ecosystems, scientific instruments, political institutions, industries, energy systems, communities, and competing values.
• Public health, involving diseases, bodies, infrastructures, medical systems, regulations, and social practices.
• Food systems, involving agriculture, labor, ecology, technologies, cultures, and markets.

Discussion

Latour's Critique of Matters of Fact

Latour argued that modern critique had become trapped in a logic of endless debunking. Once facts were shown to be socially constructed, critics often assumed this made them less real. Instead, Latour proposed shifting attention toward how realities are assembled and sustained.

This does not imply relativism. Matters of concern remain real; they are simply recognized as relational and composed rather than isolated and self-sufficient.

More information

• Matters of Care, takes Latour's concept a step further into 'caring relationality'.