Moments of Valuation

Abstract

Abstract This book contains fifteen chapters on the ways in which things and ideas that are new or unknown are given their value. Long before items as diverse as wine, art, or technologies for cleaning slurry gain commercial value, they are evaluated by experts, reviewed by critics, and compared with earlier successes. An exploration of moments of valuation reveals the initial dissonance among those judging a newly proposed alternative and shows how they influence the emergence of newness in society. The deviant, the tenuous, the rough, is recognized and estimated. Several chapters deal with aesthetic valuation, as in the tasting of a new vintage, or in the socio-technical process that shaped successful synthesizer sounds. Other chapters discuss the judgment processes in organizations, like architect offices or consultancy firms, and processes of evaluation and valorization in larger fields of practice, like accounting or mathematics. The pattern of comparison relies on the controversies and interpretations expressed, the sites on which the events took place, and on the terms of value attributed. The studies are written by anthropologists, economic or cultural sociologists, organization researchers, historians or political scientists who share an interest in social valuation and a pragmatist approach. The episodes chosen come from the consumer sector, from processes of chapters contribute to an understanding of the social and cultural conditions under which innovations fail and succeed.

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