Living in a Material World: Economic Sociology Meets Science and Technology Studies

by Michel Callon (Contributor), Richard Swedberg (Editor )

Understanding the intersection of economic sociology and science and technology studies through the idea of materiality. Although social scientists generally agree that technology plays a key role in the economy, economics and technology have yet to be brought together into a coherent framework that is both analytically interesting and empirically oriented. This book draws on the tools of science and technology studies and economic sociology to reconceptualize the intersection of economy and technology, suggesting materiality—the idea that social existence involves not only actors and social relations but also objects—as the theoretical point of convergence. The contributors take up general concerns, such as individual agency in a network economy and the materiality of the household in economic history, as well as specific financial technologies such as the stock ticker, the trading room, and the telephone. Forms of infrastructure—accounting, global configurations of trading and information technologies, and patent law—are examined. Case studies of the impact of the Internet and information technology on consumption (e-commerce), the reputation economy (the rise of online reviews of products), and organizational settings (outsourcing of an IT system) round off this collection of essays. Contributors
Elizabeth Popp Berman, Daniel Beunza, Michel Callon, Karin Knorr Cetina, Shay David, Thomas F. Gieryn, Barbara Grimpe, David Hatherly, David Leung, Christian Licoppe, Donald MacKenzie, Philip Mirowski, Fabian Muniesa, Edward Nik-Khah, Trevor Pinch, Alex Preda, Nicholas J. Rowland, David Stark, Richard Swedberg

Genres: Technology, Sociology, Economics

403 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2008

Reviews

[Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a canonical collection of readings in the "new" economic sociology a.k.a. the social studies of finance. In some ways this is a follow-up to Mackenzie, et al's "Do Economists Make Markets?" in that at least two of the articles (those by Mirowski and Callon) are refinements of argugments they make in that volume. The two volumes should thus be read together. One key distinction between the two is that while "Do Economists Make Markets" focused narrowly on the performativity of economics, this volume consists of a broader selection of readings that reflect the expansion of the field in recent years.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ethnographic studies in this volume were well worth reading, but the theoretical stuff (particularly that based on economic theory) went right over my head.