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Cited by 1,378Economic Theory and InstitutionsManagement and Organizational StudiesInformation Systems Theories and Implementation

Peripheral Vision: Economic Markets as Calculative Collective Devices

Callon, Michel, Muniesa, Fabian·2005·Organization Studies
DOI 10.1177/0170840605056393
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Abstract

How to address empirically the calculative character of markets without dissolving it? In our paper, we propose a theoretical framework that helps to deal with markets without suspending their calculative properties. In the first section, we construct a broad definition of calculation, grounded on the anthropology of science and techniques. In the next sections, we apply this definition to three constitutive elements of markets: economic goods, economic agents and economic exchanges. First, we examine the question of the calculability of goods: in order to be calculated, goods must be calculable. In the following section, we introduce the notion of calculative distributed agencies to understand how these calculable goods are actually calculated. Thirdly, we consider the rules and material devices that organize the encounter between (and aggregation of) individual supplies and demands, i.e. the specific organizations that allow for a calculated exchange and a market output. Those three elements define concrete markets as collective organized devices that calculate compromises on the values of goods. In each, we encounter different versions of our broad definition of calculation, which we illustrate with examples, mainly taken from the fields of financial markets and mass retail.

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Crossref · 10.1177/0170840605056393

Cites

2 of 2 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

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  • By introducing new business models, firms develop new markets.

    “By introducing new business models, firms develop new markets (Callon and Muniesa 2005;MacKenzie and Millo 2003;Pollock and Williams 2009;Inversini and Masiero 2014;Storbacka and Nenonen 2011).”

    From Smart tourism: foundations and developments (2015) · cites this paper as Callon and Muniesa 2005

  • Buddhist monastic institutions functioned as fiscal calculative spaces through three interrelated mechanisms-detachment, manipulation and transformation, and extraction-within which people, land, and wealth were progressively rendered calculable and actionable to the state.

    “Building on Callon and Muniesa's (2005) and Callon and Law's (2005) conception of calculation as a materially organized process, this section shows how Buddhist monastic institutions functioned as fiscal calculative spaces through three interrelated mechanisms-detachment, manipulation and transformation, and extraction-within which people, land, and wealth were progressively rendered calculable”

    From State, great families, and Buddhism: monasticism as calculation in the fiscal governance of early medieval China (2026) · cites this paper as Callon and Muniesa's (2005)

  • Buddhist monasteries operated as calculative spaces that enabled detachment at a scale and stability difficult to achieve when people and resources remained embedded within aristocratic estates.

    “In Callonian terms, Buddhist monasteries operated as calculative spaces that enabled detachment at a scale and stability that was difficult to achieve when people and resources remained embedded within aristocratic estates.”

    From State, great families, and Buddhism: monasticism as calculation in the fiscal governance of early medieval China (2026) · cites this paper as Callon and Muniesa (2005)

  • In early medieval China, Buddhist monasteries constituted calculative spaces through which populations and resources could be withdrawn from dispersed social relations and reassembled in more stable, inspectable, and governable configurations.

    “In early medieval China, Buddhist monasteries constituted such calculative spaces-not in the form of accounting ledgers or numerical tables, but as institutional settings through which populations and resources could be withdrawn from dispersed social relations and reassembled in more stable, inspectable, and governable configurations.”

    From State, great families, and Buddhism: monasticism as calculation in the fiscal governance of early medieval China (2026) · cites this paper as Callon and Muniesa (2005)

  • Monasteries were not merely affected by state fiscal interventions but were actively constituted as institutional infrastructures that enabled calculation to take place.

    “Drawing on Callon and Muniesa's (2005) and Callon and Law's (2005) conceptualization of calculation as a process of detachment, transformation, and extraction, the analysis has shown that monasteries were not merely affected by state fiscal interventions but were actively constituted as institutional infrastructures that enabled calculation to take place.”

    From State, great families, and Buddhism: monasticism as calculation in the fiscal governance of early medieval China (2026) · cites this paper as Callon and Muniesa's (2005)

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Authors
Callon, M., & Muniesa, F.
Affiliations
  • Centre de sociologie de l'innovation (FR)
  • Ecole des Mines de Paris, France,
Corresponding author
Callon, Michel
Venue
Organization Studies
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2005-08
Volume
26
Issue
8
Pages
1229-1250
ISSN
  • 0170-8406 (ISSN-L)
  • 1741-3044
DOI
10.1177/0170840605056393
OpenAlex
W2063236858
Cited by
1,378
References
2
Citations by year
2026: 71 · 2025: 55 · 2024: 81 · 2023: 66 · 2022: 77 · 2021: 75 · 2020: 82 · 2019: 95 · 2018: 83 · 2017: 76 · 2016: 84 · 2015: 71 · 2014: 77 · 2013: 78 · 2012: 64
FWCI
80.73
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
  • Organization Studies (publishedVersion, public-domain)
  • HAL (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Economic Theory and Institutions
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Management and Organizational Studies
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Information Systems Theories and Implementation
Keywords
calculation, markets, economic agents, economic exchange, distributed agency, market organization, financial markets, mass retail, value of goods

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