Robert Romano
Are We Modern?
“We have never been modern, but we have found a way of thinking that we were” is stated by Bruno Latour in We Have Never Been Modern. Latour centers his piece around the idea of “modernism” and talks about how “modernism” deals with “purification” and “translation.” Latour compares science and sociology together and talks about how the world tries to keep these domains separate to be more modern as a society. He states that this is a paradox at its finest because the act of keeping society separate from nature is not allowing our society to reach a modern era. When I read Latour’s writing I found The Greek Tree to perfectly exemplify the vocal point of Latour’s writing. The Greek Tree allows students to support their fraternal/sorietal organization, which they have a tremendous amount of pride in and they get to express their way of life(culture) through the natural world.