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One of the crisis texts of cultural theory was the Critical Inquiry conference on "theory" held in Chicago in April 2003. The conference was a defense of the spectral (anti-foundational) theory that dominated the academy throughout the "80s and "90s, but because this spectral theory of theory has since lost its credibility with the loss of U.S. economic hegemony and political legitimacy in the world, the presenters all had to acknowledge in different ways the need for an "other" theory, hence the popularity of ethics, aesthetics, and activism at the conference. Because it was typical, I will focus on Bruno Latour's essay that formed the initial statement of the issue of Critical Inquiry that covered the conference.

DOI: 10.1057/9780230117020_3

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