Martin Herrnstadt & Léa Renard (2025): Alain Desrosières und die Praktiken der Enquête. [Alain Desrosières et les pratiques d’enquête] A propos, 1. Open access https://www.ouvroir.fr/apropos/index.php?id=177
Alain Desrosières (2025): Der Gegensatz zweier Formen der Enquête: Monografie und Statistik [L’opposition entre deux formes d’enquête : monographie et statistique, L’argument statistique I. Pour une sociologie historique de la quantification, Paris, Presses des Mines [copyright], 2008, S. 143–151] A propos, 1. Open access https://www.ouvroir.fr/apropos/index.php?id=178
Alain Desrosières (2025): Die Statistik: Instrument der Befreiung oder Instrument der Macht? [La statistique, outil de libération ou outil de pouvoir ?, Statactivisme. Comment lutter avec des nombres, Isabelle Bruno, Emmanuel Didier, Julien Prévieux (Hg.), Paris, La Découverte (Zones) [copyright], 2014, S. 51–66] A propos, 1. Open access https://www.ouvroir.fr/apropos/index.php?id=183
Recherche et Applications en Marketing (English Edition), online first L’article original dans l’édition française : ici
Abstract.This article aims to understand how the individuals justify the limits to their consumption efforts regarding environmental issues. We adopt an interpretivist approach, drawing on the theoretical framework of pragmatic sociology proposed by Boltanski and Thévenot. We contribute to the literature on the green gap by identifying the justifications put forward by individuals who seek to contribute to the common good. In particular, we show how they question the measurement of carbon footprints, i.e. the reality test that is supposed to assess the virtuous nature of practices. We also contribute to the literature on convention theory in marketing by exploring the justification of consumers with regard to a reality test. Finally, we propose a number of managerial recommendations. They aim to help create tools and attractive holistic narratives to push back the limits to consumption efforts.
Lisa Ruetgers, Jordon Lazell, Maureen Meadows & Elizabeth Bos (2025)
Business Strategy and the Environment, Online first, Open access
Abstract. The problem of food waste is increasingly being tackled via revenue-generating activities such as the retailing of surplus food products. Little scholarly attention has been paid to the role of the consumer in such business models, even though consumers’ perceptions and purchasing decisions are crucial to the acceptance of business innovations. This paper puts forward a process framework, informed by convention theory and legitimacy theory, to enhance understanding of ‘how’ consumer acceptance of such business models develops. Applying a multiple case study approach, this research investigates three case studies of ventures in Denmark and the United Kingdom illustrating models of surplus food reselling from retailers and manufacturers to consumers. The findings highlight three processes of acceptance: circumstantial, personal and community benefits and correspondence with social positioning. Aspects of price and convenience were the most influential in legitimising surplus food purchasing. Overall, the study makes an important contribution in demonstrating the market potential of surplus food.
Abstract. The study of morality outside of sociology can be improved, we demonstrate, with greater attention paid to aspects of situated interaction beyond abstract moral principles. We propose an inductive framework that focuses on the bottom-up, situationally framed aspects underlying moral disputes, including types of situational setting, contextual cues, and roles and relationships of involved parties. In clear-cut cases like murder, consensus on right or wrong emerges easily, influenced by either intentions or consequences. However, in complex moral disputes, situational conditions can significantly influence the valence and the degree of consensus of collective evaluation of morality. Drawing on over a million personal narratives from the online forum “Am I The Asshole?” (AITA), we present empirical analyses that build toward a “thick” understanding of moral evaluation (Abend, 2011). Our analyses find great variation in moral disagreements across settings, with those possessing strong situational norms reporting low disagreement about moral culpability; contextual cues lead to predictably divergent moral evaluations; and power disparities between involved parties resulting in blame more commonly assigned to those in power. We discuss the implications of the bottom-up framework for empirical research in sociology of morality.
Extract: “The third aspect we interrogate involves the relationally situated roles held by the parties involved in an event. The standards that comprise a moral order, as Goffman argues, are deeply rooted within shared understandings and exist beyond individual perception and cognition. We draw on the concept of ‘orders of worth’ (Boltanski and Thévenot, 1999) to explore how social relationships shape our understanding of a situated moral order.” (p. 4)
Compromise in a pluralistic project-group : the activities of the broker of Worlds in the elaboration of a compromise convention
Corinne Grenier & Christine Dutrieux (2024)
Gestion et management public, 13(X). Online first, Open access (French & English versions)
Résumé. Notre recherche examine un groupe-projet d’un établissement de formation en travail social (EFTS), qui se saisit d’une nouvelle démarche d’intervention sociale pour initier des actions novatrices. Le contexte pluraliste de l’EFTS et sa difficulté à embrasser de nouveaux Mondes qui le pénètrent, nous amènent à mobiliser la littérature sur les Économies de la Grandeur. La perspective conventionnaliste développe la notion d’acteur compétent, capable d’élaborer des compromis, mais qui reste encore très peu étudiée par la littérature. Nous entendons répondre à ce « research gap » en nous intéressant aux activités déployées par la pilote du groupe-projet en formulant la question de recherche suivante : « Quelles sont les activités du pilote d’un groupe-projet en contexte pluraliste, enchâssé dans des mondes différents, qui conduisent les acteurs qui le composent à élaborer une convention de compromis pour lancer des initiatives novatrices ? ». Pour appréhender cet acteur, nous mobilisons les travaux sur le courtier de connaissances et les objets frontières. Le dispositif méthodologique s’appuie sur une observation-participante de l’un des auteurs, salariée de l’EFTS étudié. Le matériau ainsi collecté est complété par deux vagues d’entretien, sur la période 2018- 2022. Les données sont codées à partir d’un plan issu du cadre théorique d’analyse et de codes émergents. Nos résultats nous permettent de définir la pilote du groupe-projet comme un « Courtier de Mondes » que nous définissons comme « un courtier de connaissances qui parvient dans un collectif pluraliste à générer une convention de compromis grâce à ses activités de circulation et d’enrichissement de la connaissance, de mise en relation et de socialisation des acteurs, de développement des compétences des acteurs, et par une activité de réflexivité sur les Mondes » (inspiré de Dutrieux, 2021). Nous répondons à notre question de recherche de deux manières. Tout d’abord nous avons mis en évidence les activités constitutives du courtier de Mondes (en complément de la littérature) par l’importance de l’activité de socialisation et de communication entre les membres du groupe-projet en contexte pluraliste ; nous montrons également que le courtier de Mondes adopte une posture de « user push » pour ne pas imposer sa vision, mais encourager, par une activité de soutien à une réflexivité amenant les membres du groupe à faire sens des connaissances et pratiques au regard des différents Mondes, et à reconnaître leur altérité. Notre seconde contribution est d’identifier deux types de conventions de compromis, que nous appelons épistémique et pragmatique, la première offrant les éléments de langage pour soutenir les échanges et la communication nécessaires à la seconde. La formulation des compromis a été soutenue par l’échange autour d’objet-frontière.
Abstract. Our research examines a project group from a Social Work Training Establishment (SWTE), which uses a new social intervention approach to initiate innovative actions. The SWTE pluralistic context and its difficulty in embracing new Worlds that penetrate it, lead us to call upon the literature on the Economies of Worth. The conventionalist perspective studies the notion of a competent actor able to elaborate compromises, but this notion has not been studied thoroughly by the literature. We intend to respond to this “research gap” by looking at the activities deployed by the pilot of the project-group and formulating the following research question: “What are the activities of the pilot of a project-group in a pluralistic context, embedded in different worlds, that lead the actors who compose it to develop a compromise convention to launch innovative initiatives?”. To understand this actor, we draw on the work/research on knowledge brokers and boundary objects. The methodology is based on a participant observation by one of the authors, an employee of the SWTE under study. The material thus collected is supplemented by two rounds of interviews, over the period 2018-2022. The data are coded using a plan derived from the theoretical framework of analysis and emerging codes. Our results enable us to define the pilot of the project group as a “Broker of Worlds”, that we define as “a knowledge broker who manages, in a pluralistic collective, to generate a compromise convention thanks to his activities of circulating and enriching knowledge, networking and socializing actors, developing actors’ skills, and through an activity of reflexivity on Worlds” […]. We answer our research question in two ways. First, we highlight the constitutive activities of the broker of Worlds (complementing the literature) by the importance of the socialization and communication activities between project group members in a pluralistic context; we also show that the broker of Worlds adopts a “user push” posture to not impose his vision, but to encourage through his support of reflexivity leading the group members to make sense of knowledge and practices with regard to the different Worlds, and to recognize their alterity. Our second contribution is to identify two types of compromise conventions, which we call epistemic and pragmatic, the first offering elements of language to support the exchanges and communication necessary to the second. The formulation of compromises was supported by exchange around boundary objects.
Ecopreneurs im Spannungsfeld von ökologischer Nachhaltigkeit, Unternehmertum und kapitalistischer Wirtschaft
Between saving the world and marketability Ecopreneurs in the field of tension between ecological sustainability, entrepreneurship and capitalist economy
Eltje Gajewski (2025)
Marburg: Büchner Verlag. Open access.
Über das Buch. Ecopreneurs – Gründer:innen junger Startups mit ökologisch nachhaltigem Geschäftsmodell – gelten als Hoffnungsträger:innen der nachhaltigen Transformation der Gesellschaft. Mit der Verbindung von idealistischer Motivation, kreativem Denken und unternehmerischer Schaffenskraft, die ihnen in gesellschaftlichen, politischen und betriebswirtschaftlichen Diskursen zugeschrieben wird, entwickeln sie innovative Lösungen für ökologische Probleme. Mit nachhaltigen und zugleich gewinnbringenden Geschäftsmodellen harmonisieren sie scheinbar widerstreitende Ziele von Umweltschutz und Wirtschaftswachstum. Im Rahmen der vorliegenden Untersuchung wurden 21 Ecopreneurs mitsamt ihren Startups über mehrere Jahre hinweg begleitet. Eltje Gajewski veranschaulicht, mit welchen Motivationsstrukturen, Orientierungen, Unternehmenspraktiken und Denkweisen Ecopreneurs ihre Gründungen angehen und wie sich diese in der Auseinandersetzung mit den äußeren Rahmenbedingungen verändern. Dabei treten verschiedene Konflikte mit Investoren, Stakeholdern, gesetzlichen Vorgaben und wirtschaftspolitischen Regularien zutage, die die Ecopreneurs typischerweise mit Kompromissen zuungunsten der ökologischen Aspekte ihrer Unternehmungen bearbeiten, um ihre Nachhaltigkeitsideale zu retten. Entgegen gängigen Annahmen über das innovative Potenzial des Kapitalismus zeigt sich, wie ökologische Disruptionen am und durch den Markt gebremst werden.
About the book. Ecopreneurs – founders of young start-ups with an ecologically sustainable business model – are seen as the beacons of hope for the sustainable transformation of society. With the combination of idealistic motivation, creative thinking and entrepreneurial creativity that is attributed to them in social, political and business discourses, they develop innovative solutions for ecological problems. With sustainable and at the same time profitable business models, they harmonize seemingly conflicting goals of environmental protection and economic growth. In this study, 21 ecopreneurs and their start-ups were followed over a period of several years. Eltje Gajewski illustrates the motivational structures, orientations, business practices and ways of thinking with which ecopreneurs approach their start-ups and how these change in the process of dealing with the external framework conditions. This reveals various conflicts with investors, stakeholders, legal requirements and economic policy regulations, which ecopreneurs typically deal with by making compromises to the detriment of the ecological aspects of their ventures in order to save their sustainability ideals. Contrary to common assumptions about the innovative potential of capitalism, this shows how ecological disruptions are slowed down on and by the market.
Abstract. In Switzerland, four different educational pathways lead to higher education (HE): baccalaureate schools, upper‐secondary specialized middle schools, vocational middle schools, and dual vocational education and training (VET) combined with a federal vocational baccalaureate. The four pathways are not equally supported by Swiss education policy: Baccalaureate schools and dual VET plus a federal vocational baccalaureate are politically treated as the two royal roads to HE, while specialized middle schools and vocational middle schools, in this study grouped under the term vocationally oriented middle schools (VOMS), receive only little political attention. This holds true even though VOMS have a high transition rate to HE and are considered to have the potential to bring young women into male‐typical HE programs and attract high‐achieving youths with a migration background. The study investigates from a governance perspective how (in practices and processes) the conception of the royal roads to HE is constructed and reproduced as well as how this affects the positioning of VOMS as pathways to HE in Switzerland. The study refers to the theoretical framework of the sociology of conventions and the concept of valuation practices. The data basis consists of publicly available documents and qualitative interviews. The findings show that commensurations, categorizations, visualizations, and the interplay between a variety of human and non‐human actors reinforce two highly stable and powerful cognitive formats of royal roads to HE. At the same time, these same practices construct an image of VOMS as less significant additional pathways to HE by rendering their qualities and potentials as such pathways comparatively invisible or tabooing them in the service of educational policy interests. With these findings, the present study contributes to the international scholarly discussion on permeability between VET and HE.
Extract: “From a functionalist perspective, society and the labor market demand a variety of educational qualifications, which in turn necessitate diverse educational programs, each with distinct characteristics. These characteristics, along with the corresponding qualifications, are assigned different meanings and values. This leads to the question of how the quality and value of educational programs are socially constructed. In contrast to the understanding of quality in common educational policy discourse (Hupka‐Brunner et al., 2015), the sociology of conventions framework (Boltanski & Thévenot, 2006; Diaz‐Bone & de Larquier, 2022) does not view quality as something that can be determined ontologically, objectively, and universally. In this view, quality is rather the result of processes of attribution by actors on the basis of different orders of worth (quality conventions; for quality conventions in education see Imdorf & Leemann, 2023). Eymard‐Duvernay (2012a) has called this process of attribution “valuation.” In this context, Favereau (2017) emphasized that quality is the product not only of valuation processes but of devaluation processes as well.” (p. 7)
History of Economic Thought and Policy, 2024/2, p. 149-161
Abstract. The purpose of this paper is to show the contribution of the conventionalist approach to the analysis of unemployment. The role of labor evaluations is highlighted. This approach leads to very different economic policy positions than those developed by neoclassical theory. Emphasis will be placed on microeconomic aspects, but in order to act in a macroeconomic context, i.e. that of conventions. In contrast to a Keynesian analysis oriented more on the quantitative problems of labor market disequilibrium, the effort here will be to show the importance of qualitative issues.
In Rainer Diaz-Bone & Guillemette de Larquier (eds.), Handbook of economics and sociology of conventions. Cham: Springer, Online first
Abstract. Economics and sociology of conventions (EC/SC), also known as convention theory, has long focused on standardization. Its founders played a significant, yet not entirely acknowledged, role in developing and establishing the predominantly Anglo-Saxon field of the sociology of standards. The EC/SC perspective on standards centers around the idea of “investments in forms,” developed by Laurent Thévenot as part of a material approach to power and the coordination of action. From a convention theory perspective, the chapter discusses the importance of standards in understanding neoliberal globalization. Standards are advocated by both market and nonmarket entities to achieve legitimate coordination, comparability, and compatibility, bypassing the regulatory authority of the state. Thus, governing with the support of standards transforms into governance through standards. In the first section, the chapter further explores Thévenot’s approach, focusing on his analysis of the neoliberal turn as standardizing liberalism. Thévenot’s framework is then compared with other perspectives on the political implications of standardization and, more broadly, quantification within the EC/SC tradition. The discussion then shifts to contributions in convention theory that deal with standards in specific policy areas, such as health, education, and urban planning. These policy insights show how measurable standards and certifications can radically transform economic sectors, everyday life, and ordinary experiences. They also highlight the complexity of current developments related to datafication and digitalization and the contribution EC/SC can bring to this debate.
In Rainer Diaz-Bone & Guillemette de Larquier (eds.), Handbook of economics and sociology of conventions. Cham: Springer, Online first
Abstract. The article explores the application of the economics and sociology of conventions (EC/SC or convention theory) to the study of sustainability, emphasizing its utility in addressing the complexities of climate change. It aims to explore how convention theory can illuminate the diverse understandings and practices around sustainability across various social groups and institutional frameworks. By employing EC/SC, it is demonstrated how different “worlds” or conventions—such as market, industrial, and green—shape the actions and justifications of actors in relation to sustainability goals. In doing this, it discusses the historical evolution of sustainability, tracing it from its roots in eighteenth-century agriculture to its current status as a global environmental policy principle, underscored by pivotal reports like the Brundtland Report. Furthermore, it examines how sustainability has been variably integrated into economic systems, often critiqued as an “empty signifier” due to its conceptual ambiguities and the challenge of implementing it in tangible policies. The article highlights the role of convention theory in revealing how sustainability is negotiated amid conflicting economic and ecological objectives, making it particularly pertinent for analyzing policy designs, institutional responses, and governance strategies at the United Nations climate summits and beyond. This contribution could not only enrich the understanding of sustainability dynamics but also proposes EC/SC as a crucial framework for critically assessing the interplay between environmental imperatives and socioeconomic structures in the era of climate change.
In Rainer Diaz-Bone & Guillemette de Larquier (eds.), Handbook of economics and sociology of conventions. Cham: Springer, Online first
Abstract. The economics and sociology of conventions (EC/SC) has been widely applied to health(care), identifying a plurality of values related to health as well as analyzing ongoing developments in terms of commodification, industrialization, and digitization. These transformations, also known as (digitally enhanced) evidence-based medicine, predictive medicine, patient-centered health, or smart health, are particularly driven by specific investment in forms—specifically algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI). After a short introduction to algorithms and AI and their areas of application, such as public health, processes in healthcare (health services research), medical research, prevention, prediction, risk profiling, diagnostics, therapy, prognosis, rehabilitation, and care, the chapter will, in a first step, review the discourses around algorithms and AI from an EC/SC perspective, linking the promises and harms around these digital investment in forms with the corresponding order of justification and understanding of the common good. In a second step, a connection is made between data worlds and algorithmic worlds, discussing the value-driven conflicts between market-driven approaches, bias-critical, and decolonial movements, algorithms for public good-designs, and developments based on fairness, transparency, and accountability. With its focus on investments in forms, the EC/SC sheds not only an alternative light on the algorithmic construction of reality but offers insights into the ongoing negotiations on technological regulation and governance.
In Rainer Diaz-Bone & Guillemette de Larquier (eds.), Handbook of economics and sociology of conventions. Cham: Springer, Online first
Abstract. The concept of rationality is a central concern for social sciences in general and for economics in particular. The chapter focuses on the role that rationality plays in the work of Olivier Favereau, cofounder of economics and sociology of conventions (in short, EC/SC or convention theory). One of the major pillars of Favereau’s account of conventions is the assumption of bounded rationality, a notion suggested and elaborated into a theory by the Nobel Prize-winning polymath Herbert Simon. The chapter discusses how the acceptance of bounded rationality distinguishes convention theory from dominant neoclassical economic theories. In Favereau’s account, rationality is inherently intertwined with various issues of social interaction, including coordination problems within collective entities. The chapter describes various connections between rationality, behavioral rules, and formal organizations. Such connections relate to key concepts of EC/SC, especially the notion of common worlds or quality conventions. The chapter emphasizes the links between Simon’s theory of bounded rationality and the emphasis on reflexivity and normativity in convention theory. It examines critiques of the assumption of bounded rationality as foundational to convention theory and discusses the related evolution of the role of rationality in the EC/SC program.
Fig. 1 Taxonomy of economic theories. (Based on Favereau 1989a, b, 2010, 2020)
In Rainer Diaz-Bone & Guillemette de Larquier (eds.), Handbook of economics and sociology of conventions. Cham: Springer, Online first
Abstract. This article demonstrates how economics and sociology of conventions (EC/SC) is useful for understanding the socioeconomic processes related to tourism. Compared to other economic activities, the value creation process in tourism is stretched from a spatiotemporal perspective: value is built in two places and two “moments.” To carry out these economic transactions, the conventions established by the actors involved (whether demand or supply-side actors) are particularly readable due to this spatiotemporal stretching. This peculiarity is explored through the general principles of EC/SC (conventions, valuation) and through two particular concepts of EC/SC (enrichment and business model). It is also shown that it is because of this spatiotemporal stretching that tourism particularly well allows an understanding of the value construction processes that concern all economic activities. The chapter discusses tourism-dependent regional development processes, which differ from development processes dependent on traditional industrial activities. Practical consequences of the evolution of tourism at the global level for regions are considered. The now constant and multidirectional flow of mobile consumers is of considerable importance in development dynamics. Thus, the established conventions for attractiveness on the one hand, and for territorial management vis-à-vis mobile consumers, are also evolving. The development of regions now depends on innovations of a more political and social nature than those traditionally theorized by the literature in economic geography and regional development.
In Rainer Diaz-Bone & Guillemette de Larquier (eds.), Handbook of economics and sociology of conventions. Cham: Springer, Online first
Abstract. With respect to the enterprise as a subject of convention theory or economics and sociology of conventions (EC/SC), financialization stands for a somehow paradoxical history: At the beginning, one if not the main concern was on defending the plurality of logics of economic action and respective logics of coordination in companies against the unique optimization logic of mainstream economics’ agency theory. Financialization, together with the emergence of a “new spirit of capitalism”, stands for a reversal of perspectives, at least in an important stream of EC/SC’s research. In this perspective, the vision of the contractual enterprise seems to have become empirical reality by the implementation or the enforcement of financialized frameworks of valuation. On the other hand, there is another stream of research, drawing on financialization as one convention-based way of evaluation and coordination among others, with the financialized firm never being only financialized. The conclusion emphasizes the perduring relevance of initial concepts of EC/SC, which focus on the empirical analysis of coordination of action on the microlevel of enterprises and firms as fruitful as heuristics for corporate analysis, especially under the conditions of financialization.
Convention Theory and Valuation in Comtemporary Art: The Convergence and Tension between Art and Capitalism
Junya Tatemi (2024)
Quarterly Journal of Economic Research, Vol.43 No.1-3 Autumn 2024 pp.2-19
Abstract.In this paper, we take Boltanski and Chiapello’s ‘The New Spirit of Capitalism’ as the warp and woof of a theoretical framework for understanding the valorization of art and culture in relation to the political economy process of contemporary capitalism. It is the theoretical framework for understanding the valorization of art and culture in relation to the political-economic processes of modern capitalism. The concept of ‘art world’ is discussed in the context of the political economy of contemporary capitalism. By rethinking the concept of the art world from the perspective of convulsion theory, the following findings were obtained. The value of art and culture is determined by the value of the art world. The value of art and culture is determined by the ‘quality practices’ shared within the art world. The value of art and culture arises as a result of a series of operations that highlight, evaluate, and test specific attributes inherent in objects/situations, with reference to the ‘quality practices’ shared within the art world. It is the result of a series of operations that highlight, evaluate, and test specific attributes inherent to an object/situation with reference to shared ‘quality practices’ within the art world. It is created through practices in pragmatic situations, in which not only people but also things are involved. Value is created and re-created through interactions in the complex interweaving of people and things (i.e., situations). With this, the art world is redefined not only as the world of people, but also as a world composed of people and things. This shows that the political economy over the power of valorization emerges as an important issue. This allows us to examine the relationship between the art world and its external world, especially capitalism. This provides a perspective from which to examine the relationship between the art world and its external world, and capitalism in particular.