FOLLOWING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF LATOUR: A “PORTRAIT” OF THE STATE COUNCIL AS A LABORATORY

Abstract

Introduction. In the context of the digital transformation of social institutions, characterized by the introduction of AI, big data and digital platforms in the processes of governance and law enforcement, the need for new theoretical approaches to their understanding is becoming more urgent. The article responds to this challenge. The purpose of the article is to apply the optics of Latour’s actor–network theory (ANT), developed in his ethnography of the French State Council (“Factory of Law”), to analyze the transformation of “laboratories of power” in the digital age, demonstrating the heuristic power of this approach. Methods. The study is based on the methodological apparatus of ANT (analysis of hybrid networks of human and non-human actants), supplemented by an analysis of the conceptual provisions of Latour’s works and their application to the current digital context. Scientific novelty of the study lies in the transfer of Latour’s metaphor of the “laboratory of power” (initially applied to a traditional bureaucratic institution) to the realities of the digital age. The article confirms and develops the thesis about the radical “reassembly” of such laboratories under the influence of new non-human actants (algorithms, digital platforms, big data), which changes the practices of constructing legal reality and legitimacy. Results. Following Latour in his study of the State Council: 1) it was revealed that non-human actants (legal precedents themselves, documents, dossiers) shape legal decisions, trajectories of discussion and the normative discourse itself. 2) the key challenges of the digital era for “laboratories of power” were identified: the problem of transparency and accountability of decisions made with the participation of AI “black boxes”; the risk of losing the “oscillation” necessary for justice; issues of responsibility for algorithmically predetermined decisions. 3) it was established that material objects and technologies act not just as tools of automation, but as co-authors in “producing” a new political and legal reality, channeling or excluding certain positions. Conclusions. The optics of ANT has proven their high heuristic value for analyzing technological transformation of social institutions. The study demonstrates that “laboratories of power” do not disappear, but are fundamentally reassembled into hybrid networks that include algorithms and data as full-fledged actors. Routine (now digital) bureaucratic practices become a central field for the sociology of producing collective reality, raising new questions about the nature of power, transparency and accountability in the 21st century. It is suggested that further research will focus on specific material-semiotic practices of interaction between traditional institutions and digital technologies.