Archives mensuelles : mars 2024

Comment s’invente la sociologie

How sociology is invented

Luc Boltanski, Arnaud Esquerre & Jeanne Lazarus (2024)

Paris: Flammarion

A propos du livre. La sociologie, mode d’emploi. Aimée par des écrivains et des artistes, sollicitée par des journalistes, des militants, des responsables politiques pour comprendre l’actualité, qu’on s’en réclame ou qu’on la critique, comment se pratique cette science sociale qui attire tant l’attention? Trois sociologues de générations différentes nous ouvrent les portes de leurs laboratoires et nous introduisent à leurs œuvres. Ils expliquent, en dialoguant entre eux, comment on enquête, comment on écrit, comment on forge des concepts, comment on procède à des comparaisons, quels rapports entretenir avec d’autres disciplines. Ils partagent ainsi leurs méthodes pour analyser des problèmes sociaux à partir de questions sociologiques. Ce livre s’adresse à toutes celles et tous ceux qui s’intéressent à la sociologie et souhaitent savoir comment elle s’élabore”

About the book. Sociology, instructions for use. Loved by writers and artists, sought after by journalists, activists and politicians to understand current affairs, whether we claim it as our own or criticize it, how is this social science that attracts so much attention practiced? Three sociologists from different generations open the doors of their laboratories and introduce us to their work. They explain, in dialogue with each other, how to investigate, how to write, how to forge concepts, how to make comparisons, and how to relate to other disciplines. They share their methods for analyzing social problems based on sociological questions. This book is for all those interested in sociology and how it is developed.

Lien / Link

L’ouvrage a donné lieu à un entretien dans l’émission “Les Midis de Culture” de France Culture.
The book was the subject of an interview on France Culture’s “Les Midis de Culture” program.
(04/03/2024; 00:38:06)

https://www.radiofrance.fr/franceculture/podcasts/les-midis-de-culture/luc-boltanski-et-jeanne-lazarus-comment-s-invente-la-sociologie-8458039

Les sociologues Luc Boltanski et Jeanne Lazarus nous ouvrent les portes de la sociologie: le livre “Comment s’invente la sociologie”, qu’ils signent avec Arnaud Esquerre, est un dialogue à trois retraçant leurs parcours et les fonctionnements de cette discipline, de ses débuts à notre époque. Ils sont les invités de Géraldine Mosna-Savoye et de Nicolas Herbeaux.

Sociologists Luc Boltanski and Jeanne Lazarus open the doors of sociology to us: the book “Comment s’invente la sociologie”, which they have written with Arnaud Esquerre, is a three-way dialogue tracing their careers and the workings of this discipline, from its beginnings to the present day. They are guests of Géraldine Mosna-Savoye and Nicolas Herbeaux.

Se mobiliser pour l’environnement: mettre en forme, faire valoir et réparer les liens terrestres

Mobilizing for the environment: shaping, promoting and repairing earthly links

Laura Centemeri (2024)

Habilitation à diriger les recherches. Paris: EHESS, 27/03/2024

JURY
Daniel Cefaï, Directeur d’études à l’EHESS (garant)
Sylvaine Bulle, Professeure, ENSA-Université Paris-Cité (rapportrice externe)
Paul Cary, Maître de conférence HDR, Université de Lille  (rapporteur externe)
Francis Chateauraynaud, Directeur d’études à l’EHESS (rapporteur interne)
Stéphanie Dechézelles, Professeure, Université de Pau (examinatrice)
Marie Gaille, Directrice de recherche CNRS (examinatrice)
Daniela Poli, Professeure, Università di Firenze (examinatrice)
Bruno Villalba, Professeur, AgroParisTech (examinateur)

Le dossier présenté en vue de l’obtention de l’HDR a pour titre général Se mobiliser pour l’environnement: mettre en forme, faire valoir et réparer les liens terrestres et il comporte trois volumes:
– Le volume 1 ou Mémoire de synthèse est intitulé Désastres environnementaux et dynamiques de la réparation : les apports de la sociologie de l’(é)valution. Un parcours interdisciplinaire et transnational de recherche
– Le volume 2 ou Mémoire inédit est intitulé Terres en mouvement. Critique agro-écologiste, agricultures alternatives et pratiques de réhabiter en Italie (1972-2022) dont vous trouverez en pièce jointe la table des matières.
– Le volume 3 est une sélection de publications (544 pp. plus deux monographies).

Résumé. Le mémoire original Terres en mouvement est divisé en trois parties. Dans la première partie j’esquisse les contours d’une sociologie de l’environnement, d’inspiration pragmatiste et conventionnaliste, qui se base sur une compréhension écologique de l’action comme trans-action ou engagement avec un environnement. Cela conduit à mettre en avant la centralité des expériences de valuation et la diversité des manières d’évaluer, ce qui ouvre sur une sociologie de l’incommensurabilité comme construction sociale et sur une sociologie de la critique environnementale et de ses transformations qui cherche à prendre au sérieux l’espace et le mouvement concret du sens critique. Les parties 2 et 3 du mémoire retracent les transformations de la critique de l’industrialisation de l’agriculture en Italie en raison de son être écologiquement destructif, à partir des années 1970. A travers cette histoire, je cherche à saisir cette critique dans le continuum entre pratiques et discours. Il s’agit d’identifier des arguments critiques mais également des pratiques de résistance, en interrogeant le passage de la résistance au “sentier alternatif”. En particulier je montre l’émergence de trois arguments critiques relativement stables pour légitimer publiquement la résistance à l’industrialisation de l’agriculture dans le contexte italien: l’argument de l’agriculture paysanne ; l’argument de l’agriculture biologique ou naturelle ; l’argument de l’agriculture écologiquement fondée ou agroécologisme scientifique. Je montre que chacun de ses arguments a une généalogie, une histoire, des variations internes et envisage différemment le passage d’échelle du local au global. En parallèle de ces arguments critiques se développe, à partir de la fin des années 1980, un ensemble de discours sur la qualité et la patrimonialisation alimentaire qui vont constituer le consensus actuel sur le made in Italy alimentaire. La question qui en découle est qu’est-ce qu’une nourriture de qualité du point de vue écologique. La dernière partie du mémoire montre « la grande confusion » qui caractérise aujourd’hui le débat italien sur la transformation écologique de l’agriculture et l’ensemble composite de mouvements qui cherchent à promouvoir un changement des pratiques agroalimentaires.

ABOUT THE THESIS
The habilitation thesis submitted is entitled “Mobilizing for the environment: shaping, promoting and repairing earthly links”, and comprises three volumes:
– Volume 1 or Dissertation is entitled “Environmental disasters and the dynamics of reparation: contributions from the sociology of (e)valution. An interdisciplinary and transnational research project”
– Volume 2 or unpublished dissertation is entitled “Terres en mouvement. Agro-ecological criticism, alternative agricultures and the practice of rehabbing in Italy (1972-2022)”, the table of contents of which is attached.
– Volume 3 is a selection of publications (544 pp. plus two monographs).

Abstract. The original dissertation Terres en mouvement is divided into three parts. In the first part, I outline the contours of a pragmatist and conventionalist-inspired sociology of the environment, based on an ecological understanding of action as trans-action or engagement with an environment. This leads to an emphasis on the centrality of valuation experiences and the diversity of ways of evaluating, which opens to a sociology of incommensurability as a social process. It also leads to a sociology of environmental critique, its variations, and its transformations that seeks to take seriously the concrete space and movement of critical sense. Parts 2 and 3 of the dissertation trace the transformations of the critique of the industrialization of agriculture in Italy – based on its being ecologically destructive – from the 1970s onwards. Through this history, I seek to grasp this critique in the continuum between practices and discourses. The aim is to identify critical arguments and practices of resistance and to examine the transition from resistance to “alternative pathways”. In particular, I show the emergence of three relatively stable critical arguments for publicly legitimizing resistance to the industrialization of agriculture in the Italian context: the peasant farming argument; the organic or natural farming argument; and the argument for ecologically-based agriculture or agroecologism. I show that each of these arguments has its own genealogy, history, and internal variations; it conceives the shift in scale from local to global in different ways. Parallel to these critical arguments, from the end of the 1980s onwards, discourses on food quality and food heritage began to develop, forming the current “consensus” on the made-in-Italy food quality. But is food quality the convenient frame for addressing the sustainability of agri-food systems? The last part of the dissertation shows the “great confusion” that characterizes today’s Italian debate on the ecological transformation of agriculture and the composite set of movements that seek to promote a change in agri-food practices.

Lien / Link

Conventions of the State, Statistics, and Public Action in a Territorial Perspective

Walter Bartl (2024)

In Rainer Diaz-Bone & Guillemette de Larquier (eds.), Handbook of economics and sociology of conventions. Cham: Springer, Online first

This chapter describes economics and sociology of conventions (EC/SC)’s concept of the state and of the co-production of official statistics and public action in a territorial perspective. EC/SC conceives of the state as a set of culturally established conventions, i.e., mutual expectations about the role of the state that help actors to pragmatically coordinate with each other. The specificity of state conventions is that they claim to define the common good for society. In this respect, official statistics have become a crucial instrument of the nation state for defining objects to be known and to be governed by public action. This interrelatedness of statistics and state interventions stabilizes expectations toward the state. However, in EC/SC, conventions of the state are not in pre-established harmony, but are seen as contingent upon the (non-) resolution of pragmatic problems in (national) history, which means that state conventions can become subject to comparative as well as historical empirical research. The chapter, firstly, summarizes the concept of conventions of the state, mainly based on the work of Michael Storper and Robert Salais. Secondly, it describes how statistical tools of the nation state have varied historically focusing on the work of Alain Desrosières. Thirdly, it points out challenges of producing and using statistics on a subnational and a transnational scale. Fourthly, the chapter presents more recent empirical EC/SC research on producing and using numbers in a territorial perspective. Finally, conclusions for further research are drawn.

Lien / Link

Conference report: Calculation – Design – Cultivation. Ways of Designing Fair Business Models in the Data Economy

Conference report

Philipp Dieterich (University of Kassel)

The conference (titled “Calculation – Design – Cultivation. Ways of Designing Fair Business Models in the Data Economy”), which took place at the University of Kassel (Germany) from February 21st to 22nd 2024, addressed various approaches of fair value mediation in data economic business models, through sociological and (business) informatics lenses, considering the Sociology and Economics of Conventions (EC/SC). It served as the concluding conference of the project ‘Fair Digital Services: Co-Valuation in the Design of Data-Economic Business Models (FAIRDIENSTE)’, conducted by the Departments of Sociological Theory (University of Kassel, Prof. Dr. Jörn Lamla, project coordination), Participatory IT-Design (University of Kassel, Prof. Dr. Claude Draude), Knowledge and Data Engineering (University of Kassel, Prof. Dr. Gerd Stumme), as well as the Institute for Digital Management and New Media (LMU Munich, Prof. Dr. Thomas Hess). Also involved in the project were the two practice partners BurdaForward and the registered association ‘Institut für Technik und Journalismus e.V.’ (ITUJ, Institute for Technology and Journalism). The conference took place at the Research Center for Information System Design (ITeG), which promotes development towards a socially desirable IT design. Approximately 40 participants, including 20 speakers, attended the conference over the two days. It included introductory presentations on the FAIRDIENSTE project, two keynote speeches, and three panel discussions. In each case, the FAIRDIENSTE consortium gave a presentation on a co-evaluation approach, followed by a panel discussion with external guests from academia and practice. The following conference report will provide a chronological summary of each of these contributions and subsequent discussions.

Introduction to the FAIRDIENSTE Project
J. Lamla and Jonathan Kropf (Department of Sociological Theory, University of Kassel) provided an introduction to the FAIRDIENSTE project, which was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research from February 2021 to April 2024. The project aimed to develop a scientific concept of fairness for the data economy and to produce well-founded results for the design of digital services. The Economics and Sociology of Conventions (EC/SC) was used as its theoretical foundation. A fundamental concept in the FAIRDIENSTE project is the idea of Co-Valuation, which involves considering fairness through the mediation of different values. Approaches chosen included Design (channeling value conflicts through design), Calculation (translating different values into the language of prices), and Cultivation (promoting a culture of fairness for negotiating value conflicts through the cultivation of critical competencies). The field of analysis was digital journalism, due to the numerous value conflicts observed there (e.g., distribution of data-economic revenues, blurred boundaries between journalism and advertising, crises in public debate culture, professional standards of journalistic work, discrimination or manipulation by algorithms). However, insights were intended to be beneficial for fairness in data economy as a whole.

The contents of the conference built upon the “White Paper” (https://www.uni-kassel.de/forschung/index.php?eID=dumpFile&t=f&f=9915&token=f0ee2575f3c555cfcbc35c4bb68a7a36d16c1a50), previously developed by the consortium. This serves as an analytical and practical resource for the implementation and design of fair business models in the data economy, akin to a toolbox. The aim was to make this toolbox as practical as possible in order to reach not only scientists but also practitioners from politics, business, and civil society.

Keynote I: ‘Data Worlds and Fairness – Perspectives from the Economics and Sociology of Conventions’ by Rainer Diaz-Bone (University of Lucerne)
In his keynote speech, Rainer Diaz-Bone provided insights into EC/SC (https://uni-kassel.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=f6bbcb35-9bf6-4883-a1f5-b12500e9ea6b). He then outlined potential points of connection between EC/SC and the project at hand, along with the associated data-economic issues of fairness. R. Diaz-Bone explained that conventions serve as a justification for cognitive, organizational, and technical data infrastructures. He identified five different data worlds (academic, official statistics, market research, big data, civic data), each following conventions, and emphasized the importance of analyzing the circulation of data production, usage, revaluation, and reciprocal observations across these worlds. From the plurality of data worlds, he inferred that there can be no universal definition of fairness. He also noted that definitions of fairness must be developed empirically. In doing so, attention should be paid to how these definitions conflict with each other, in which constellations they are found, and where compromises can be identified. Fairness, he suggested, is often empirically linked to multiple logics. He concluded by stressing that analyses of fairness must begin with the production of data, as data does not consist of given facts but results instead from statistical chains.
In the subsequent discussion, J. Lamla described various ideas on how fairness could be conceptualized within EC/SC: firstly, fairness could be its own convention; secondly, each convention could have its own concept of fairness; thirdly, the concept of fairness could be approached at a meta-level to empirically trace how challenges of fairness relate to issues of value mediation. J. Lamla noted that the project had opted for the third perspective, which focuses on a procedural understanding of fairness. Consequently, R. Diaz-Bone highlighted the interesting approach of the FAIRDIENSTE project. He pointed out that the meta-analyses and questions that were raised regarding fairness oriented towards EC/SC can be helpful for developing guidance ideas for politics and governance without specific criteria catalogs.

Calculation
Regarding the calculation approach, Simon Engert (Institute for Digital Management and New Media, LMU Munich) elucidated that perspectives were developed on how fairness can be examined and achieved using economic mechanisms. The central aim was to translate different values into the language of prices, addressing questions such as the fair distribution of data-economic revenues. He summarized that fairness is both normatively desirable and economically relevant.

Christopher Buschow, Mena Teebken, Richard Weber and Thomas Hess

The panel featuring Christopher Buschow (TU Hamburg), Mena Teebken (Bavarian Research Institute for Digital Transformation), Richard Weber (BurdaForward), moderated by T. Hess, delved into the transformation of the media landscape and the challenges of fairness in digital journalism. The discussion focused on proposals for creating a fair business model. C. Buschow opened the panel by referring to various understandings of fairness, depending on historical experiences and linked to the fundamental transformation of the media world over the past 30 years. He emphasized that (lack of) fairness is relevant, both in the remuneration of journalists, and in ensuring non-discriminatory access to platforms. Following this direction, M. Teebken noted that a fair business model crucially depends on how fairly it treats users’ data, highlighting the importance of data. At the same time, she pointed out the necessary pragmatic balance between overly lenient and overly restrictive handling of data privacy. R. Weber emphasized the societal mission of a publisher to provide journalistic content, which necessitates direct and indirect payment methods. He stressed that implementing fairness does not solely lie with publishers, due to the multitude of stakeholders, thus requiring a consideration of the entire value chain.
The panel discussed possible processes for developing acceptable solutions for all stakeholders in journalism. Suggestions included negotiations through unions, the relevance of user interests, and creating a counterbalance to large platforms. The importance of negotiating fairness collectively among all stakeholders was repeatedly emphasized. Subsequently, the possibilities and limitations of tools to support journalism were discussed, highlighting the importance of user engagement and a transformative understanding of science. R. Diaz-Bone argued, based on the EC/SC, that an understanding of privacy that is related to information control and individual autonomy, that often guides many discussions, is actually an outdated bourgeois model from the 19th century and no longer relevant to current ways of thinking. However, the empirical relevance of privacy in the data economy presents an interesting case.

Design
Viktoria Horn (Participatory IT-Design, University of Kassel) referred to a comprehensive concept of design as the basis of the approach, encompassing technical, regulatory, and infrastructural aspects. The focus was on questions of democratizing design processes and reflecting values in artifacts. Therefore, much work was done with ‘participatory design’, where participation entails the early and continuous involvement of stakeholders in design processes, incorporating both technical and non-technical solutions. Fostering fair value mediation requires a multi-perspective process considering power asymmetries, which can be achieved, for example, through a participatory workshop with various stakeholders. Such a workshop was developed in collaboration with BurdaForward as part of the FAIRDIENSTE project and was conducted with different stakeholders.
The subsequent panel discussion with Alina Hang (BurdaForward), Tahireh Panahi (Public Law, IT Law and Environmental Law, University of Kassel), Peter Sörries (Institute of Computer Science, FU Berlin), moderated by C. Draude, began with considering the positive experiences of previous participatory workshops, which had lead to increased empathy among stakeholders. The feasibility of such concepts in reality was questioned, for instance by A. Hang, due to the diversity of actors and existing competitive situations. Challenges were also discussed regarding the implementation of values into technical artifacts and the implementation of fairness business models, particularly regarding financial and time resources. P. Sörries emphasized, based on his own experiences in conducting participatory workshops, the difficulty of deriving and maintaining design requirements, especially considering possible updates or changed data protection concepts. T. Panahi pointed out attempts to introduce more regulations at an EU level, which often allow companies a certain degree of leeway. She concluded that cultivation should be the prerequisite for legal regulations and laws. The panel participants agreed that users’ participation and co-creation is central to a fair data economy. R. Diaz-Bone emphasized the importance of testing and verification in the EC/SC, meaning that it must be tested and must work in reality to endure. This implies that a solely pluralistic perspective is not sufficient, but must always be tested and verified under the given conditions.

Alina Hang, Tahireh Panahi, Peter Sörries and Claude Draude

Cultivation
Markus Uhlmann (Department of Sociological Theory, University of Kassel) introduced the cultivation approach, which aims to explore possibilities for public negotiations of value conflicts and to promote critical valuation competencies. Starting from a problem-oriented presentation of recommendation systems’ popularity metric and personalization, Uhlmann proposed an alternative navigation paradigm. This is based on a cartographic approach, and structures a variety of content through conventions that users can explore independently. This cartography utilizes formal concept analysis linked to the EC/SC, as explained by Johannes Hirth (Knowledge & Data Engineering, University of Kassel).
In the subsequent discussion with Renate Fischer (University of Zurich), Karolin Kappler (Catholic University of Applied Sciences of North Rhine-Westphalia), and Miriam Ruhenstroth (ITuJ e.V.), moderated by J. Lamla, questions regarding the development of critical valuation competencies played a distinct role. In this regard, J. Lamla introduced the concept of ‘critical space’, which must necessarily be created, and asked how such a critical space could emerge. K. Kappler pointed out that its creation, especially in the field of digitization, is not sufficient. As long as exploitative relations of work, environment, and human in relation to data are not considered, a critical space is merely a sham. Instead, she suggested bringing attention to the plurality in a power-sensitive manner. R. Fischer, on the other hand, argued that while plurality exists, there are no skills to recognize it. She concluded that users lack critical evaluation skills and a navigation paradigm could be helpful. M. Ruhenstroth emphasized that ‘critical spaces’ such as the association ITuJ exist, and that cultivation often already takes place among users. She described the desire of users for simplification, such as using grades. However, this logic corresponds to a different logic than the EC/SC uses, as the EC/SC does not solely engage in accounting and tends to authoritatively determine what is good or bad, as J. Lamla explained. This led to a debate about the compatibility of the EC/SC logic with practicality in digital journalism. M. Ruhenstroth noted that people are capable of learning and interested in the topic. There is more demand than the association ITuJ can meet. K. Kappler identified the problem that children and young people are not taught how to act in a self-determined manner in the digital space, but rather they get mainly focused on predetermination and control. M. Ruhenstroth added that digitization in schools currently does not aim to teach the handling of digitization. Conventions could help address ownership and power relations. R. Fischer suggested focusing on imparting skills rather than mere knowledge. K. Kappler emphasized that media literacy means using media sensibly, the EC/SC being helpful in that regard. She further pointed out that competence also means using digital artifacts creatively and subversively against the algorithm.

Miriam Ruhenstroth, Renate Fischer, Karolin Kappler and Jörn Lamla

Keynote II: ‘On the Designability of Power Dynamics in the Platform Society: Insights from Digital Journalism’ by Sarah Ganter (Simon Fraser University, Canada)
Sarah Ganter’s presentation focused on the challenges and opportunities of digital journalism in the context of the platform society (https://uni-kassel.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=1ab14570-457b-4bfa-b808-b12500e9f632). The aim of the presentation was to illuminate the specific problems of digital journalism within this framework and to highlight the design spaces of news organizations. S. Ganter described the asymmetric distribution of power between platforms and news organizations. On digital platforms, fairness had no value as it did not represent a profitable business model. Earlier attempts, between 2005 and 2015, to shape the power dynamics of platforms, had shown that this asymmetric distribution of power could not be overcome despite various strategies. Aspects that manifested the power of digital platforms, as mentioned by S. Ganter, included the ability to set and break standards, comprehensive expertise and reach, cross-domain actions, and the secrecy of strategies. Platforms could empower digital journalism to be quickly actionable without making high short-term financial investments. Building on this, S. Ganter described possible design spaces for news organizations that exist despite asymmetrical power relations. News organizations were actively involved in the process of platformization and saw it as an opportunity to increase their reach and consolidate or expand their power positions. S. Ganter worked out how news organizations pursued different strategic approaches in dealing with platforms, ranging from confrontation, to coexistence, to collaboration, depending on various endogenous and exogenous factors.

Sarah Ganter

Outlook
J. Lamla concluded with a positive assessment of the conference in the light of the numerous new insights. For him, it became clear once again that there is an empirical and practical relevance of the concept of fairness, especially in journalism. He observed that, taking the EC/SC into account, there are some theoretical challenges regarding the significance of conventions and norms in the data economy, such as the question of why the justification of central concepts such as privacy is not keeping pace with developments. T. Hess praised the productive work of the interdisciplinary team, which contributed to the project’s great success. He advocated for utilizing the existing design space. As a summary, he added that the interdisciplinary team with different perspectives was a great success of the project, and emphasized that there are design opportunities that must be seized. He hopes to be able to address this, together with others, in another research project in the future.

Money and Value: The Contribution of The Empire of Value to the Economics and Sociology of Conventions

André Orléan (2024)

In Rainer Diaz-Bone & Guillemette de Larquier (eds.), Handbook of economics and sociology of conventions. Cham: Springer, Online first

Abstract. Trying to understand what goods are worth of is at the very heart of economists’ thinking. The answer traditionally given to this question consists in identifying a certain substance, labor, or utility, as being at its origin. The approach of the economics and sociology of conventions takes a completely different path: value is a sui generis social construct, based on monetary convention. This represents a decisive break with traditional economic approaches. Money institutes value. The power invested in money stems from its collective recognition as a purchasing power. In this sense, like language, money is a community fact; it exists only in the context of its community of use, from which it derives its power. In so doing, the proposed construction is reminiscent of Boltanski and Thévenot’s polity model: money must be seen as the “higher common principle” through which everyone is brought into relationship with others. The desire for money, rather than the search for useful commodities, is the elementary force at the heart of the functioning of commodity production. From this perspective, money can be described as “sovereign”, and the monetary community can be compared to the political community. In both cases, one can see a set of originally separate individuals building, through their association, a collective body that transcends and protects them. The monetary institution, like the state, has the nature of a collective power that the association gives itself when it constitutes itself as a social body.

Lien / Link

“Vulnerable Societies: Risks and Responses“

At the upcoming congress “Vulnerable Societies: Risks and Responses“ of the Swiss Sociological Association at Basel (9-11 September 2024) two sessions are devoted to convention-theory based presentations.

Workshop: Crises, conflicts, catastrophes – on the relationship between “self-vulnerabilization” and collective capacities for action from a convention theory perspective
– Rainer Diaz-Bone (University of Lucerne/Switzerland): Sociology of conventions and self-vulnerabilization
– Ross Wallace/Kaya Schwemmlein/Susana Batel (University of Lisbon/Portugal): From place imaginaries to regimes of engagement with alternative energy futures: A report from a Portuguese “sacrifice zone”
– Valentin Rottensteiner (University of Duisburg-Essen/Germany): Conflicting worlds of production: How the strive for supply chain vulnerability creates conflict in the semiconductor industry
– Luca Perrig (University of St. Gallen/Switzerland): Enrolling hackers into a market for cyber-vulnerabilities

Workshop: The Pluralization of Social Knowledge Production and the Paradox of Vulnerability
– Frithjof Nungesser (University of Graz/Austria): Vulnerable Societies: Risks and Responses
– Valeska Cappel (University of Lucerne/Switzerland): Health-Apps: The pluralization of knowledge production and its consequences
– Guy Schwegler & Léonie Bisang (University of Lucerne/Switzerland): Is place the new social? Geodata and the encounter of data worlds
– Walter Bartl (University of Halle-Wittenberg/Germany): Worlds of scientific knowledge transfer

Lien / Link

Voluntary Sustainability Standards

Emmanuelle Cheyns (2024)

In Rainer Diaz-Bone & Guillemette de Larquier (eds.), Handbook of economics and sociology of conventions. Cham: Springer, Online first

Abstract. Growing social and ecological criticism of industrial agriculture in the early 2000s led to the increasingly frequent use of voluntary certification schemes to guarantee standardized sustainable or ecological production. Multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs) have emerged to set these voluntary standards of sustainability for sensitive commodities. They claim to guarantee properties that extend to fundamental rights at work, the protection of the environment and of peoples, human and land rights, and so on. They portray to give equal standing to all categories of stakeholders. Their horizontal forms of government however require very specific observations of contemporary, and sometimes invisible, forms of exercise of power. Economics and sociology of conventions (in short, EC/SC or convention theory) contributed to re-politicize these forms of coordination, by examining the politics behind the technical processes, the exclusion of some participants linked to the legitimized forms of evidence and knowledge, and the exclusion of certain valuations of human relationships with their environment. More recently, studies referring to the sociology of engagement emphasize how the liberal political model of the balance of interests shapes forms of participation, while excluding others. MSIs reduce pluralism to the expression of interests, making it difficult to engage in the justification regime (in qualifying the common good) and considering people’s attachments. Some works also underline the role that very local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) play in accommodating the voices of vulnerable communities in multi-stakeholder initiatives, by being close to them and by restoring their dignity through a work of care.

Lien / Link

Review of “L’économie est une science réflexive. Chômage, convention et capacité dans l’oeuvre de Robert Salais”, edited by Christian Bessy and Claude Didry (2022)

Héloïse Petit (2023)

Le mouvement social, 283, pp. 198-201

Premières lignes: “En 2019, deux journées d’étude étaient organisées en l’honneur de l’économiste Robert Salais, à l’occasion de son départ de l’École normale supérieure de Paris-Saclay (ex-Cachan). C’est alors que s’est dessiné le projet de cet ouvrage coordonné par Christian Bessy et Claude Didry. Ils y ont fait le choix de mettre en exergue l’« engagement réflexif » de Robert Salais comme chercheur, qu’ils présentent en écho à son « engagement » professionnel et politique en tant que statisticien à l’Insee en début de carrière.”

First lines: “In 2019, two study days were organized in honor of economist Robert Salais, on the occasion of his departure from the École normale supérieure de Paris-Saclay (ex-Cachan). It was then that the project for this book, coordinated by Christian Bessy and Claude Didry, took shape. They have chosen to highlight Robert Salais’s “reflexive commitment” as a researcher, which they present as an echo of his professional and political “commitment” as a statistician at INSEE at the start of his career.”

Lien / Link

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Valuation and Enrichment

Christian Bessy (2024)

In Rainer Diaz-Bone & Guillemette de Larquier (eds.), Handbook of economics and sociology of conventions. Cham: Springer, Online first

Abstract. This contribution analyzes the way economics and sociology of conventions (EC/SC) deals with price formation in the light of the question of the plurality of forms of valuation, which lead to different processes of enrichment. In the first part, the way EC/SC has questioned the notion of value is presented, starting with the mimetic model of collective belief formation proposed by André Orléan, which he first applies to the genesis of money and then extends to other liquid and tradable assets on markets, which can lead to the appearance of speculative bubbles. This mimetic model is completed by taking into account all the mediations that allows to understand the diffusion of a form of valuation. The second part of the chapter is devoted to the analysis of the valuation of things, starting with research into the construction of relevant “grasps” (prises in French) in preparation for their valuation. Based on the work of Boltanski and Esquerre, the development presents structured forms of valuing things as sources of justification of price and shows their contribution to EC/SC in the analysis of market construction.

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Review of “Aux bons soins du capitalisme. Le coaching en entreprise” by, Scarlett Salman (2021)

Anne Jourdain (2022)

Socio-économie du travail, 12(2), pp. 188-194

Extrait: “Scarlett Salman a choisi un très bel objet pour analyser les transformations du capitalisme contemporain : le coaching en entreprise. En faisant des coachs en entreprise les parangons du « nouvel esprit du capitalisme » (Boltanski et Chiapello, 1999), elle met au jour deux évolutions caractéristiques des mondes du travail et de l’emploi au cours des dernières années. […]
Pour régler la question des temporalités du travail, le coaching propose, via divers outils et exercices, un surcroît de planification et d’organisation, ainsi qu’un travail d’optimisation de soi. Scarlett Salman montre que ces remèdes s’inspirent paradoxalement de l’ancienne cité « industrielle » (Boltanski et Thévenot, 1991) opposée à la valorisation du connexionnisme et de la fluidité de la cité « par projet » caractéristique du nouvel esprit du capitalisme (Boltanski et Chiapello,1999).” (p. 188, p.192)

Extract: “Scarlett Salman has chosen a very fine object to analyze the transformations of contemporary capitalism: corporate coaching. By making corporate coaches the paragons of the “new spirit of capitalism” (Boltanski and Chiapello, 1999), she brings to light two characteristic developments in the worlds of work and employment in recent years. […]
To address the issue of temporality in the workplace, coaching offers a range of tools and exercises to enhance planning and organization, as well as self-optimization. Scarlett Salman shows that these remedies are paradoxically inspired by the old “industrial” city (Boltanski and Thévenot, 1991), opposed to the valorization of connectionism and the fluidity of the “projective” city characteristic of the new spirit of capitalism (Boltanski and Chiapello, 1999).” (p. 188, p.192)

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Conventions for Green Investments: Stock Indices and Bond Ratings in the Age of Sustainable Finance

Tom Duterme (2024)

In Rainer Diaz-Bone & Guillemette de Larquier (eds.), Handbook of economics and sociology of conventions. Cham: Springer, Online first

Abstract. This chapter presents the work of economics and sociology of conventions that shed light on dynamics at the heart of contemporary capitalism. To act in situations of uncertainty, financial market participants do not base their investment decisions exclusively on the comments of opinion leaders. They also rely on indicators such as stock market indices and credit ratings. These indicators are supported by multiple measurement conventions (selection, weighting, revision techniques, etc.). Once stabilized, they generate conventions of interpretation that can be very powerful: through their influence on asset managers, the main stock market indices today determine the allocation of billions of dollars. The sustainable finance movement proposes to rethink the logic of financial decision-making. This implies, in particular, the emergence of new conventions of interpretation, based on new indicators, such as “ESG indices” and “green ratings”. The chapter first outlines the conventions governing decision-making in the stock market, then addresses the issues at stake in the bond market. In both cases, traditional indicators need to be adapted to the new criteria of sustainable finance.

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Verrechnung – Design – Kultivierung. Instrumentenkasten für die Gestaltung fairer Geschäftsmodelle durch Ko-Valuation

Calculation – Design – Cultivation. Toolbox for the design of fair business models through co-evaluation

Claude Draude, Simon Engert, Thomas Hess, Johannes Hirth, Viktoria Horn, Jonathan Kropf, Jörn Lamla, Gerd Stumme, Markus Uhlmann & Nina Zwingmann (2024)

White Paper. Kassel: University of Kassel. Open access

Abstract. Ausgehend von der Beobachtung, dass gegenwärtige Herausforderungen der Datenökonomie neben der angemessenen Verwendung von Daten auch Aspekte der gerechten Verteilung von Erlösen, die Manipulation durch Algorithmen oder die Beeinflussung der politischen Meinungsbildung durch Plattformen betreffen, lotet das vorliegende White Paper Möglichkeiten der fairen Gestaltung datenökonomischer Geschäftsmodelle aus. Die erarbeiteten Instrumente und Analysen zur Unterstützung einer fairen Geschäftsmodellgestaltung basieren auf Ergebnissen des vom BMBF geförderten Projekts „Faire digitale Dienste: Ko-Valuation in der Gestaltung datenökonomischer Geschäftsmodelle (FAIRDIENSTE)“. Um ein analytisch gehaltvolles Fairness-Verständnis zu entwickeln, das auch für die konkrete datenökonomische Gestaltungspraxis innovative und wirtschaftlich tragfähige Alternativen zu gegenwärtigen Geschäftsmodellen freizulegen vermag, wurden in FAIRDIENSTE verschiedene Ansätze der kooperativen Wertvermittlung (im Folgenden auch „Ko-Valuation“) erprobt, die wir als Verrechnung, Design und Kultivierung bezeichnen: Erstens wurde untersucht, inwiefern sich unterschiedliche Werte in eine ökonomische Sprache der Preise übersetzen und fair verrechnen lassen (Verrechnung). Zweitens wurde herausgearbeitet, wie Wert-konflikte durch technische und regulative Designs kanalisiert werden können (Design). Drittens wurde geprüft, inwiefern die öffentliche Aushandlung von Wertkonflikten, z.B. über Social-Media-Elemente, gefördert werden kann, um zu einer Kultur der Fairness unter den Nutzerinnen und Nutzern beizutragen (Kultivierung). Diese Perspektiven wurden anhand der Fairness-Herausforderungen des digitalen Journalismus geschärft und auf ihre Tragfähigkeit geprüft. Darüber hinaus beanspruchen die folgenden Überlegungen und Instrumente zur fairen Geschäfts-modellgestaltung aber auch auf andere gesellschaftliche Domänen anwendbar zu sein.

Abstract. Based on the observation that current challenges in the data economy concern not only the appropriate use of data but also aspects of the fair distribution of revenues, manipulation by algorithms or the influence of platforms on political opinion-forming, this white paper explores possibilities for the fair design of data-economic business models. The tools and analyses developed to support fair business model design are based on the results of the BMBF-funded project “Fair digital services: Co-evaluation in the design of data-economic business models (FAIRDIENSTE)”. In order to develop an analytically sound understanding of fairness that is also capable of uncovering innovative and economically viable alternatives to current business models for concrete data-economic design practice, FAIRDIENSTE tested various approaches to cooperative value mediation (hereinafter also referred to as “co-evaluation”), which we refer to as offsetting, design and cultivation: First, we investigated the extent to which different values can be translated into an economic language of prices and fairly offset (offsetting). Second, it was worked out how value conflicts can be channeled through technical and regulatory designs (design). Third, it was examined to what extent the public negotiation of value conflicts, e.g. via social media elements, can be promoted in order to contribute to a culture of fairness among users (cultivation). These perspectives were sharpened on the basis of the fairness challenges of digital journalism and tested for their viability. In addition, the following considerations and instruments for fair business model design also claim to be applicable to other social domains.

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A Convention Theorist Approach to Accounting

Eve Chiapello (2024)

In Rainer Diaz-Bone & Guillemette de Larquier (eds.), Handbook of economics and sociology of conventions. Cham: Springer, Online first

Abstract. The word accounting mainly refers to a particular form of quantification aimed at producing quantified images of the economic activity of various entities (companies, public bodies, nations, etc.) for reporting to various stakeholders. Accounting can therefore be studied as a quantification technique, applying the tools of the sociology of quantification. However, there are special features that make accounting more than just one quantification technique among many. The economics and sociology of conventions (EC/SC) provide important analytical tools to analyze its essential role in the economy.
Accounting is in fact a very important source of coordination conventions that frame our economic exchanges. It is also a major source of economic valuation, as it is able to state economic worth and profits. This chapter highlights the different aspects that shape accounting practices and the power struggles around accounting figures. It also explains how these aspects have evolved historically in order to build the necessary trust in numbers that makes them useful: accounting conventions have been gradually regulated, and so has the accounting profession. These characteristics of accounting make it a very interesting vector for addressing both the microeconomic issues of coordination between economic agents and the particular economic institutions that shape economic regimes. Accounting conventions are indicators of what and who count in a political economy. It is then not surprising that reform projects are targeting accounting conventions in order to change the way the economy works.

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¿Qué medimos cuando medimos democracia?: convenciones, espacios de lucha e implicaciones

What do we measure when we measure democracy?: conventions, spaces of struggle, and implications

Jesús Guzmán Castillo (2024)

Revista de Derecho Electoral, 37, pp. 101-115. Open access

Resumen. En los últimos años la literatura y las discusiones en la ciencia política giran en torno a la crisis de la democracia y a los retrocesos democráticos que viven los distintos países en diversas regiones, tanto en democracias nuevas como en aquellas consolidadas. Mucho de este debate surge de las mediciones que se hacen sobre la calidad de la democracia, y los resultados de estas reflejan cómo cada vez menos personas viven en democracia. Sin embargo, poco se ha reflexionado sobre el origen de estas mediciones y los impactos que pueden tener. En este artículo se discute sobre el proceso de medición de la democracia, partiendo del hecho de que es un objeto cuya conceptualización es un campo de disputa y que el proceso de medición parte de una serie de decisiones subjetivas que provienen de convenciones aceptadas entre comunidades científicas, pero también políticas y económicas.

Abstract. In recent years, the literature and discussions in political science have revolved around the crisis of democracy and the democratic setbacks experienced by different countries in various regions, both in new democracies and in consolidated ones. Much of this debate stems from the measurements that are made about the quality of democracy, and the results of these reflect how fewer and fewer people live in a democracy. However, little thought has been given to the origin of these measurements, and the impacts they may have. This article discusses the process of measuring democracy, based on the fact that it is an object whose conceptualization is a field of dispute, and that the measurement process is based on a series of subjective decisions that come from conventions accepted among scientific communities, but also political and economic.

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Understanding Plurality, Engagement, and Change in Vocational Education and Training through French Pragmatic Theory

Eli Smeplass, Jan Frode Haugseth & Johannes K. Schmees (2023)

Berufs- und Wirtschaftspädagogik Online, Spezial 19, pp. 1-20. Open access

Abstract. This paper argues for the use of French pragmatic theory for theorising about vocational education and training (VET) through a focus on understanding plurality, human engagement, and change within VET organisations and in various training situations and professions. Drawing upon the influential works of Luc Boltanski and Laurent Thévenot, we propose that French pragmatist theory offers a valuable framework for understanding the complex dynamics of VET systems and practices. French pragmatic theory, as an analytical tool, sheds light on the existence of diverse perspectives and conflicting rationales in education as well as in work life. Additionally, Thévenot’s engagement theory reveals the tensions between forms of attachment and the moral evaluations in humans’ interactions with VET systems. We argue that utilising these theoretical perspectives can provide a richer understanding of social dynamics, conflicting values, and justifications within the VET context.

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