John Law is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Centre for Technological and Organizational Analysis at Keele University. He is author of many books and articles.

"In this beautifully written book John Law describes a laboratory in political and economic turmoil. His notion of the 'mode of ordering' draws on post-structuralist theory to create a striking and critical vision of modernity. His book is also an impassioned reply to those on left or right who believe that it is possible to design the perfect society. Who said nothing good came of Thatcherism?" Michel Callon, Centre de Sociologie de l'Innovation, Ecole Nationale Superieure des Mines, Paris "Professor Law's analysis offers challenges at many levels - to what we understand by laboratory management, to the nature of connections between science studies and wider social theory in throwing light on it, and on the relationship of author to subject. His most sustained challenge is to the role of the reader, who is never allowed to relax into passivity in tackling this open and honest book." Peter Healey, The Science Policy Support Group"This is a book that reanimates the old idea of the 'sociological imagination' and which continually captivates the reader with its restless questioning, its intellectual honesty and its sheer craft." Robert Cooper, University of Lancaster

• Acknowledgements vii 1. Introduction 12. Networks and Places 313. Histories, Agents and Structures 524. Irony, Contingency and Mode of Ordering 735. Contingency, Materialism and Discourse 946. Rankings 1157. Dualisms and Gradients: Notes on the Material Forms of Ordering 1378. Enterprise, Trust and Distrust 1639. Postscript 185References 196Index 206

John Law is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Centre for Technological and Organizational Analysis at Keele University. He is author of many books and articles.

"In this beautifully written book John Law describes a laboratory in political and economic turmoil. His notion of the 'mode of ordering' draws on post-structuralist theory to create a striking and critical vision of modernity. His book is also an impassioned reply to those on left or right who believe that it is possible to design the perfect society. Who said nothing good came of Thatcherism?" Michel Callon, Centre de Sociologie de l'Innovation, Ecole Nationale Superieure des Mines, Paris "Professor Law's analysis offers challenges at many levels - to what we understand by laboratory management, to the nature of connections between science studies and wider social theory in throwing light on it, and on the relationship of author to subject. His most sustained challenge is to the role of the reader, who is never allowed to relax into passivity in tackling this open and honest book." Peter Healey, The Science Policy Support Group"This is a book that reanimates the old idea of the 'sociological imagination' and which continually captivates the reader with its restless questioning, its intellectual honesty and its sheer craft." Robert Cooper, University of Lancaster

• Acknowledgements vii 1. Introduction 12. Networks and Places 313. Histories, Agents and Structures 524. Irony, Contingency and Mode of Ordering 735. Contingency, Materialism and Discourse 946. Rankings 1157. Dualisms and Gradients: Notes on the Material Forms of Ordering 1378. Enterprise, Trust and Distrust 1639. Postscript 185References 196Index 206

John Law is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Centre for Technological and Organizational Analysis at Keele University. He is author of many books and articles.

"In this beautifully written book John Law describes a laboratory in political and economic turmoil. His notion of the 'mode of ordering' draws on post-structuralist theory to create a striking and critical vision of modernity. His book is also an impassioned reply to those on left or right who believe that it is possible to design the perfect society. Who said nothing good came of Thatcherism?" Michel Callon, Centre de Sociologie de l'Innovation, Ecole Nationale Superieure des Mines, Paris "Professor Law's analysis offers challenges at many levels - to what we understand by laboratory management, to the nature of connections between science studies and wider social theory in throwing light on it, and on the relationship of author to subject. His most sustained challenge is to the role of the reader, who is never allowed to relax into passivity in tackling this open and honest book." Peter Healey, The Science Policy Support Group"This is a book that reanimates the old idea of the 'sociological imagination' and which continually captivates the reader with its restless questioning, its intellectual honesty and its sheer craft." Robert Cooper, University of Lancaster

• Acknowledgements vii 1. Introduction 12. Networks and Places 313. Histories, Agents and Structures 524. Irony, Contingency and Mode of Ordering 735. Contingency, Materialism and Discourse 946. Rankings 1157. Dualisms and Gradients: Notes on the Material Forms of Ordering 1378. Enterprise, Trust and Distrust 1639. Postscript 185References 196Index 206