The following article discusses the

combination of graphical methods and network thought in early sociology.

It combines a case study of Jacob Levy Moreno’s sociometric work and

diagrammatic practice with media-theoretical thoughts about the

characteristics of network diagrams. These are understood as

inscriptions that perform both an act of drawing and writing at the same

time. Moreno’s mappings, as well as other early visual techniques of

social research, are understood along Michel Serres’ understanding of

the network diagram as a topological narration. Seen from the vantage

point of a history of knowledge, Moreno’s sociometric and performative

practices can not only be understood as a contribution to social network

thought, but as actual research on the cooperative character of human

interaction.