ABSTRACT

Social studies of science have for many years analyzed and demonstrated the key role of experiments to science and the making of facts. But what is the role of experiments in market work? And what, if anything, can we learn from them about markets and commodities? It is perhaps tempting to say that we can learn very little. This paper investigates a series of market research experiments investigating consumers' valuations of farmed fish, and these are almost comical in their painstaking attention to mundane details. However, when looked into closely, they provide key insights into commodification processes and the scholarly literature to understand them. Most importantly, their analysis allows us to grasp how commodities do not simply emerge as the outcome of a one way process directed towards the market, but through a relational process that jointly works with and acts upon things and people, markets and production. The paper works with the notion of co-modification to trace and stay close to these relational processes. In doing this the paper simultaneously strives for an approach that is not framed by the dominant conceptual distinction between production and market, but instead directed towards the materiality and activeness of the things exchanged. The notion of co-modification emphasises that there is more to market that the human hand. The paper shows that it can also be used in a stronger sense to suggest that commodification is a process where things, people, production methods and markets are actively modifying one another.

摘要

多年来，科学的社会研究已经分析并证明了实验对科学和事实证明的关键作用。但是，实验在市场工作中的作用是什么？而且，如果有的话，我们可以从中了解什么有关市场和商品的信息？也许我们会学到很少东西，这很诱人。本文调查了一系列市场研究实验，调查了消费者对养殖鱼类的估价，这些实验对于他们对世俗细节的刻苦关注几乎是可笑的。但是，当仔细研究时，它们提供了对商品化过程和了解它们的学术文献的重要见解。最重要的是，他们的分析使我们能够掌握商品如何不仅仅作为一种针对市场的单向流程的结果而出现，但通过关系过程共同与事物和人，市场和生产共同作用并对其起作用。本文采用共修改的概念来跟踪和保持这些关系过程。为此，本文同时努力寻求一种方法，该方法不以生产和市场之间的主导性概念区分为框架，而是针对所交换事物的实质性和活跃性。协同修改的概念强调，市场上还有人手可以做的更多。本文表明，它也可以从更广泛的意义上来使用，以表明商品化是物，人，生产方法和市场相互积极修改的过程。本文采用共修改的概念来跟踪和保持这些关系过程。为此，本文同时努力寻求一种方法，该方法不以生产和市场之间的主导性概念区分为框架，而是针对所交换事物的实质性和活跃性。协同修改的概念强调，市场上还有人手可以做的更多。本文表明，它也可以从更广泛的意义上来使用，以表明商品化是物，人，生产方法和市场相互积极修改的过程。本文采用共修改的概念来跟踪和保持这些关系过程。为此，本文同时努力寻求一种方法，该方法不以生产和市场之间的主导性概念区分为框架，而是针对所交换事物的实质性和活跃性。协同修改的概念强调，市场上还有人手可以做的更多。本文表明，它也可以从更广泛的意义上来使用，以表明商品化是物，人，生产方法和市场相互积极修改的过程。而是针对交换事物的实质性和活跃性。协同修改的概念强调，市场上还有人手可以做的更多。本文表明，它也可以从更广泛的意义上来使用，以表明商品化是物，人，生产方法和市场相互积极修改的过程。而是针对交换事物的实质性和活跃性。协同修改的概念强调，市场上还有人手可以做的更多。本文表明，它也可以从更广泛的意义上来使用，以表明商品化是物，人，生产方法和市场相互积极修改的过程。