The Laws of the Markets

The Laws of the Markets, edited by Michel Callon. Oxford & Malden, MA: Blackwell, 1998. 278 pp. $31.95 paper. ISBN: 0-631-- 20608-6.

A central concept in economics is that the market is a meeting place for buyers and sellers to determine the price of a product. Because of its centrality in economic discourse and theory, the market has been a primary target for sociologists in their effort to demonstrate the socially constructed nature of economies (Lie 1997). Indeed, much recent literature has discussed the fact that economics has failed to develop a theory of real markets, and numerous sociologists have investigated the manifestations and modes of functioning of markets in real economies. While The Laws of the Markets can be placed within this tradition, it attempts to take a more phenomenological turn. Focusing on the discipline of economics, Callon asserts in the introduction that "economics, in the broad sense of the term, performs, shapes and formats the economy, rather than observing how it functions." In this manner, Callon attempts to extend the arguments that he has forged alone and with contributors-most notably Bruno Latour and John Law, to whom the volume is dedicated-regarding actor-network theory and the sociology of science and knowledge.

Departing from an emphasis on the text and the distance between the scientist and the world of practical affairs, Callon posits a more direct relationship between economics and real economies. While he rejects the notion that there are "laws" of...