For What It’s Worth: An Introduction to Valuation Studies

Abstract

Welcome to Valuation Studies! We are very glad that you have set your eyes on the very rst editorial of this new journal. The aim of this inaugural editorial is manifold. We aim, rstly, to provide some re ections about the starting of this journal. This will bring us both to the issue of the perceived topicality of the study of valuation as a social practice as well as our provisional answers to the many questions embedded in the very embarking on such an endeavour. Secondly, we want to take the opportunity to discuss what we take as the scope of the journal. We feel that the topic of valuation as a social practice would bene t from a large amount of openness. Yet, there are also limits to the amount of diversity that can be fruitfully embraced within the (digital) covers of any journal.Thirdly, we would also like to address the many questions concerning valuation of academic work that relentlessly surface in an endeavour such as this one. (Will the contributions be any good? Will the journal provide a good arena for scholarly discussions about valuation and the study of it? Will an article published in Valuation Studies given any value in the valuation practices performed by the universities to evaluate faculty and candidates for positions? Etc.) Finally, we would want to touch upon the issue of further actions, ours as well as of others. Valuation Studies 1(1)

Valuations of experimental designs in proteomic biomarker experiments and traditional randomised controlled trials

“…2. The growing interest in valuation can be seen in different topics, from markets, to tomato tasting (Helgesson & Kjellberg 2013;Helgesson & Muniesa 2013;Heuts & Mol 2013;Kjellberg et al 2013). 3. http://www.agendia.com/clinical-trials-mindact/ 4.…”

The Role of Valuation Practices for Risk Identification

“…As valuation studies (e.g., Beckert and Aspers 2011;Berthoin Antal, Hutter, and Stark 2015;Helgesson and Muniesa 2013;Muniesa 2011) have made clear, value is neither objective nor subjective. Value is an outcome of intricate social processes of identification, definition, hierarchization, and calculation that condition preferences in more or less determined ways.…”

Singularizando estilos de vida: fabricación de imaginarios en condominios cerrados en Santiago

“…Some authors have examined technical devices as places where certain users and future scenarios are qualified and stabilized (Wilkie and Michael, 2009), in addition to the calculation techniques used to assess features of certain goods (Callon et al, 2000). On the subject, Helgesson and Muniesa (2013) suggest not to understand the value of things under the traditional dichotomy subjectivity/objectivity, but rather to delve into the study of those concrete activities that are building the reputation of a particular entity.3 Finally, the work of Ariztía (2014) shows how a set of spatial and constructive concerns in real estate projects targeting Santiago's middle-class segments depends on scripts developed for an aspirational middle-class profile. The argument displays how middle-class narratives are encompassed in designs and materials, while the effects of these operations set the terms for the production of class identity, validating imaginaries on social mobility.…”

“…This scenario forced Socovesa to identify value and differentiation criteria, materializing a real 2 On the notion of script applied to other objects and technical devices, see Tironi 2014. 3 "Value is therefore the result of a process of social work and a wide range of activities (production, and combination of circulation and evaluation) aimed at making things valuable" (Helgesson & Muniesa 2013). 4 Socovesa (Affordable Housing Building Society) (Sociedad Constructora de Viviendas Económicas s.A.) is a group of companies that, since its foundation in 1967, has been directed towards social housing, although today has enlarged its scope to real estate products of different targets and users.…”