Markets and Classifications - Constructing Market Orders in the Digital Age: An Introduction

Abstract

In this special issue of Historical Social Research markets are considered as observable constellations of exchange and competition structured by classification and valuation procedures. Such a classification perspective on markets not only links the economy to culture by highlighting the role of a cognitive order for the engagement in economic action, but it also clarifies the moral character of markets. The introduction to this HSR Special Issue contextualizes this market perspective by first placing it in relation to disciplinary discontinuities in the sociological study of the economy, by outlining its new topicality arising from digital technologies, by discussing principal limitations or fallacies of classifications and measurements and, finally, by introducing the contributions of this special issue.