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'I love philosophy'. With this confession, in the twilight of his life, Bruno Latour concluded a series of interviews he gave to the French television channel ARTE. This passion was reflected in original, fundamental questions that could only be answered after a long period of fieldwork. In this article, I – who worked alongside him on a daily basis in the 1980s and 1990s – describe the significance of this philosophical quest which led Latour to cross disciplinary boundaries, free himself from institutional constraints and overcome resistance. In this way, he has not only contributed to the revival of science and technology studies, but has also brought about a powerful revival in human sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presented in two parts, this article proposes a research programme devoted to examining 'processes of economization'. In the first instalment, published in Economy and Society 38(3) (2009), we introduced the notion of 'economization'. The term refers to the assembly and qualification of actions, devices and analytical/ practical descriptions as 'economic' by social scientists and market actors. Through an analysis of selected works in anthropology, economics and sociology, we discussed the importance, meaning and framing of economization, unravelling its trace within a variety of disciplinary backgrounds. This second instalment of the article explores what it would mean to move this research programme forward by taking processes of economization as a topic of empirical investigation. Given the vast terrain of relationships that produce its numerous trajectories, to illustrate what such a project would entail we have limited ourselves to the examination of processes we call 'marketization'. These processes, which constitute but one modality of economization, are discussed here from five vantage points: the things in the market, agencies, encounters, prices and market maintenance. Keywords: market; anthropology; sociology; marketization; economization; economy. DOI: 10.1080/03085140903424519

This article proposes a research programme devoted to examining 'processes of economization'. In the current instalment we introduce the notion of 'economization', which refers to the assembly and qualification of actions, devices and analytical/practical descriptions as 'economic' by social scientists and market actors. Through an analysis of selected works in anthropology, economics and sociology, we begin by discussing the importance, meaning and framing of economization, as we unravel its trace within a variety of disciplinary backgrounds. We show how in combination, these works have laid the foundations for the study of economization. The second instalment of the article, to appear in the next volume of Economy and Society, presents a preliminary picture of what it might mean to take processes of economization as a topic of empirical investigation. Given the vast terrain of relationships that produce its numerous trajectories, we will illustrate economization by focusing on only one of its modalities--the one that leads to the establishment of economic markets. With emphasis on the increasingly dominant role of materialities and economic knowledges in processes of market-making, we will analyse the extant work in social studies of 'marketization'. Marketization is but one case study of economization. Keywords: economization, economic sociology; economic anthropology; performativity; markets, marketization.

To purchase or authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-954X.2007.00727.x Byline: Fabian Muniesa (1), Yuval Millo (2), Michel Callon (3) Author Affiliation: (1)Centre de Sociologie de l'Innovation, within the Ecole des Mines de Paris (2)Department of Accounting at the London School of Economics and Political Science (3)Ecole des Mines de Paris, and the Centre de Sociologie de l'Innovation

A theoretical framework that helps to deal with markets without suspending their calculative properties is presented .

The identification of the genes responsible for certain serious diseases and the development of tests for identifying carriers of those genes help to put the individuals concerned in the forefront of ethical decisions. These decisions are unavoidable, especially when available knowledge and techniques have already been broadly disseminated. This article presents the case of a limb-girdle muscular dystrophy patient in Reunion Island who refuses to comprehend the lessons of genetics and to become part of the medical and associative networks that implement and diffuse that knowledge. His refusal is interpreted as the rejection of a form of agency and subjectivity, in which the individual is considered as an autonomous subject forced to choose between a number of pre-established options and responsible for the consequences of his choices. Using definitions of humanity and morality presented by Francois Jullien in his commentary on Mencius, the authors propose to consider that, by refusing, the patient is opting for a different form of morality and humanity. The article also shows how the interview situation constructs a situation that reduces the patient to silence. Keywords: bioethics; genetics; biosociality; attachment; association of patients; sociological methodology; actor-network theory.

The aim of this paper is to highlight the main characteristics of what the authors call `the economy of qualities'. The authors show that qualifying products and positioning goods are major concerns for agents evolving within the `economy of qualities'. Competition in such an economy is structured through two basic mechanisms. The first is what the authors propose to call the process of singularization of products. The second is the mechanism whereby consumers are attached to, and detached from, goods that are proposed to them. At the heart of these logics, one can find multiple socio-technical devices that are designed by economic agents, which ensure the distribution of cognitive competencies, and which constantly and finely tune supply and demand. Relying upon Jean Gadrey's work, the authors claim that the economy of qualities is nowhere more effective than in services providing activities, and especially in those sectors that invest heavily in New Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Finally, the authors suggest that, in the economy of qualities, the functioning and the organization of markets are issues that are shared by scholars and actors. In these highly reflexive markets, a collaboration between them is needed. Keywords: markets; quality; services; economy.

Patients' associations increasingly support research into the diseases affecting them. What exactly is their role? Are all such associations involved in the same way, or are there various forms of involvement? And if there are, how can they be reviewed? The answers to these questions vary with the countries, their institutional settings, and their history. They also depend on the nature and features of the diseases. Beyond these varied configurations, however, typical forms of involvement may be discerned. This article seeks to supply basic information and put forward some thoughts on the subject. As there are so few studies available, it deals in the main with the situation in France, from which more general conclusions are tentatively drawn. It shows the growing involvement of patients' associations in research. It singles out two types of association, on the basis of the role they assign to patients: auxiliary associations and partner associations. Emphasis is laid on the originality of the partner associations, which tend to bridge the customary rift between specialists and the rest of us.