A set of novel contributions exploring the sociology of 'market devices' - the analysis of the various sorts of technical instruments that intervene in the shaping and reshaping of markets.

• Explores how market devices are set to configure economic calculative capacities and observes the part they play in the marketability of goods and services
  
• Includes a wide array of objects that have been often overlooked in sociological analysis from pricing models to merchandising tools, from trading protocols to aggregate indicators
  
• Analyses the...

Do things such as performance indicators, valuation formulas, consumer tests, stock prices or financial contracts represent an external reality? Or do they rather constitute, in a performative fashion, what they refer to? The Provoked Economy tackles this question from a pragmatist angle, considering economic reality as a ceaselessly provoked reality. It takes the reader through a series of diverse empirical sites - from public administrations to stock exchanges, from investment banks to marketing facilities and business schools - in order to explore what can be seen from such a demanding...

Do things such as performance indicators, valuation formulas, consumer tests, stock prices or financial contracts represent an external reality? Or do they rather constitute, in a performative fashion, what they refer to?

The Provoked Economy tackles this question from a pragmatist angle, considering economic reality as a ceaselessly provoked reality. It takes the reader through a series of diverse empirical sites - from public administrations to stock exchanges, from investment banks to marketing facilities and business schools - in order to explore what can be seen...