Moments of Valuation: Exploring Sites of Dissonance

2015 OUP hardcover edition. Light reading wear, some pencil annotation else good condition. From the cover: The outcome of innovation processes are determined by complex, historically grown valuation practices. In this book, a wide range of innovations are taken into consideration, from small inventions like entertainment novelties to large societal changes through new technologies. The chapters observe the particular local or distributed sites in which their episodes of innovation take place, and they identify the initial dissonance among those judging a newly proposed alternative. The emphasis of the inquiry, however, is on the practices of valuation that are at work when something succeeds in being 'new'. The authors represent a wide variety of sub-disciplines and national backgrounds in the social sciences. They share an interest in social valuation and a pragmatist approach. The differences between their empirical evidence reflect the wide variety of appearances that valuation takes in contemporary society. They are anthropologists, economic or cultural sociologists, organization researchers, historians or political scientists. A number of chapters deals 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 studies are both of interest in their various professional fields, and contribute to a more general understanding of the social and cultural conditions under which innovations fail and succeed. Contents Pragmatist Perspectives on Valuation: An Introduction by Michael Hutter and David Stark Part I. Varieties of Aesthetic Valuation Moments in the Valuation of Sound: The Early History of Synthesizers by Trevor Pinch Paying Attention: What is Tasting Wine About? by Antoine Hennion Dissonant Translations: Artistic Sources of Innovation in Creative Industries by Michael Hutter Evaluating Valuation: Connoisseurship, Technology, and Art Attribution in an American Court of Law by John Brewer An Evaluative Biography of Cynical Realism and Political Pop by Svetlana Kharchenkova and Olav Velthuis Part II. Devices Valorizuing Uncertain Aesthetic Experiences Playing Nice, Being Mean, and the Space In Between: Book Critics and the Difficulties of Writing Bad Reviews by Phillipa K. Chong Structures of the Tasted: Restaurant Reviews in Berlin Between 1995 and 2012 by Sophie Mützel Making Things Precious: A Pragmatist Inquiry into the Valuation of Luxury Perfumes by Anne-Sophie Trébuchet-Breitwiller Part III. Valuation in Fields of Practice When Principles of Evaluation Clash: Assessing the Value of a Demonstration in Artificial Intelligence by Claude Rosental Accounting and the Plasticity of Valuation by Andrea Mennicken and Michael Power Clean and Profitable: Entangling Valuations in Environmental Entrepreneurship by Liliana Doganova and Peter Karnoe Reframing Expertise: The Rise of Behavioral Insights and Interventions in Public Policy by Holger Strassheim, Arlena Jung, and Rebecca-Lea Korinek Part IV. Valuation Within Organizations Epistemic Dissonance: Reconfiguring Valuation in Architectural Practice by Ignacio Farías Sources of Newness in Organizations: Sand, Oil, Energy, and Artists by Ariane Berthoin Antal Performing Worth: Shareholder Value and Management Consultancy in Post-Mao China by Kimberly Chong.…