Persons and things: an ethnographic analogy

This article explores some parallels between the ethnographies of Marilyn Strathern and Bruno Latour. More precisely, it distinguishes Latour's models of a symmetrical alliance between humans and non-humans from Strathern's conception of an ethnographic analogy,which finds (in the context of Melanesia) a mode of social action that is indifferent to the modern distinction between persons and things. This theoretical inquiry takes as its theme the question of the ownership of genetic tissues, which not only affords a topical, concrete, context for the exploration of theoretical issues, but also offers a persuasive illustration of the critique of 'symmetry' that unfolds from the perspective of Strathern's ethnographic analogy.