Overview

The Routledge International Handbook of Valuation and Society builds on the growing research interest in practices of valuation throughout contemporary society, providing an up-to-date overview of the different facets of research in the sociology of valuation. The handbook is divided into five major sections with attention to the treatment of valuation in major areas of sociological theory, as well as its key concepts, discourses, and approaches: Part I: Theoretical perspectives Part II: Central valuation practices in societal spheres Part III: Cross-cutting valuation practices Part IV: Valuation and societal change Part V: Reflections Together, the chapters in this book characterize distinctive practices of valuation across different societal spheres, such as education and science, arts and culture, economic life, the environment or digital culture and social media. They also examine the role of valuation in contemporary society and consider the ways it effects social change. This seminal handbook aims at taking stock of the development of the study of valuation with a selection of topics that are important for understanding core perspectives and developments as well as anticipating its future orientation. It will appeal to scholars across the social sciences with interest in the ubiquity of the valuation practices and its effects on social life.

Full Product Details

Author:   Anne Krüger (Weizenbaum Institute, Germany) ,  Thorsten Peetz (University of Bamberg, Germany) ,  Hilmar Schaefer (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany)
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
ISBN:  

9781032134697

ISBN 10:   1032134690
Pages:   372
Publication Date:   22 May 2026
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming
Availability:   Not yet available  
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Table of Contents

Introduction Part I: Theoretical perspectives 1. Classifications, the sacred, and moral individualism: Durkheimian perspectives on valuation 2. Anthropological perspectives on value and valuation 3. The rise of a French pragmatic sociology of values 4. On Science and Technology Studies and valuation 5. Relinquishing value: Aristotle and the substances of institutional practice 6. Value(s) and (e)valuation in sociological systems theories 7. The ‘new’ sociology of knowledge and the sociology of valuation Part II: Central valuation practices in societal spheres II. A. Economic valuation 8. Economic valuation 9. Where the value is: Accounting and the spatialization of worth 10. Rethinking value through waste: About devaluation and society II. B. Valuation in education and science 11. The panopticon of evaluation in educational organizations 12. Research on research evaluation: From particularism to synthesis 13. Competition and valuation in science and higher education 14. How evaluations fail: Investigating scientific misconduct II. C. Valuation in arts and culture 15. Valuation practices in the visual arts 16. What is good music? Distinction and valuation in music worlds 17. What makes a book “good”? New perspectives on literary evaluation Part III: Cross-cutting valuation practices III. A. Valuation of human beings 18. Self-optimization 19. (A) Being worth it? Self-worth and self-(e)valuation within Valuation Studies 20. Social inequality: A neglected topic in studies of valuation and evaluation? III. B. Digital valuation 21. Algorithms and valuation: In search of a means to get beyond opacity 22. Digital surveillance and valuation in datafied societies 23. Valuation and digital platforms 24. The social logics of platform units: A brief history of valuation practices online Part IV: Valuation and societal change 25. Economization: Valuation and the boundaries of valuation games 26. Risky values: Seeing risk through the lens of Valuation Studies 27. Valuation and sustainability 28. Datafied and (e)valuated: Datafication as driver of contingent (e)valuation 29. The amateurization of valuation in the digital age 30. Worlds of rankings research Part V: Reflections 31. Reflections on the emergence of a research field: An interview with Michèle Lamont Index

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Author Information

Anne K. Krüger is head of the research group “Reorganization of knowledge practices” at Weizenbaum Institute Berlin, Germany. Thorsten Peetz is Interim Professor of Sociological Theory at the University of Bamberg, Germany. Hilmar Schäfer was Visiting Professor in the Department of Social Sciences at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany.

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