Market Devices (The Sociological Review Monographs) - Softcover

A set of novel contributions exploring the sociology of `market devices' - the analysis of the various sorts of technical instruments that intervene in the shaping and reshaping of markets. Explores how market devices are set to configure economic calculative capacities and observes the part they play in the marketability of goods and services Includes a wide array of objects that have been often overlooked in sociological analysis from pricing models to merchandising tools, from trading protocols to aggregate indicators Analyses the performative aspects of knowledge and expertise needed in adjusting and calibrating marketing devices Includes original empirical material from the emerging intersection between economic sociology and science and technology studies

What is a market without a set of market devices? This edited volume addresses the crucial role of technical instruments in the construction of markets. From pricing models to merchandising tools, from trading protocols to aggregate indicators, the topic of market devices includes a wide array of objects that have been often overlooked in sociological analysis. The contributions to this volume open new paths to investigate these compound objects. They explore how market devices set to configure economic calculative capacities. They observe the part they play in the marketability of goods and services. They analyse the performative aspects of knowledge and expertise needed in adjusting and calibrating them. All authors partake from the emerging intersection between economic sociology and science and technology studies that is increasingly enriching the research agenda of the sociology of markets. Each contribution addresses, with original empirical material, several aspects of markets devices.