Materializing Communication: Making the Case for a Relational Ontology

In this paper, I argue that materiality and sociality should be considered essential features of everything that exists; that is, two ways by which any being gives itself to be experienced. Insisting on the sociality of anything amounts to focusing on the relations that sustain its existence and identity, while insisting on its materiality consists of highlighting what this thing is made of, which also leads us to acknowledge its relationality. This relational ontology invites us to analyze the multiple ways by which communication constitutes our world. It shows, in particular, how human beings should also be understood as media through which other beings communicate, whether the latter are policies, ideologies, passions, situations, organizations, other people, or ecosystems.