‘Black box’
The author elucidates, “An intermediary, in my vocabulary, is what transports meaning or force without transformation: defining its inputs is enough to define its outputs. For all practical purposes, an intermediary can be taken not only as a black box, but also as a black box counting for one, even if it is internally made of many parts.” The allegorical ‘black box’ signifies a foundation which elicits social deeds. In the social framework, the ‘ black box’ corresponds to an intermediary which nurtures social dealings.
Objects
Objects are causative in the actualization of mutual societal connections: “It is true that, at first sight, the difficulty of registering the role of objects comes from the apparent incommensurability of their modes of action with traditionally conceived social ties.” The objects’ part is uneven in the foundation of social links. The objects must be symbolically pertinent for them to smooth the incommensurable augmentation of social links.
