Philip Roscoe
Biographic Data
| ID | 3609435 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Philip Roscoe |
| GIVEN NAMES | Philip |
| FAMILY NAME | Roscoe |
| SIGNATURE | ROSCOE P |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of St Andrews |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-5974-945X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 19 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 46 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 18 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2013 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
What Are Markets For?
A new perspective on the role of the market, and its future place in society. Markets are apparently straightforward: they connect buyers to sellers. But their operation is complex, depending on places, things, networks and performances. Belief in markets is a cultural and political ideology. They are a means of governance in modern society, linked to individualistic self-responsibility. But markets also have a darker side. Not everything should …
Meeting Santa and Making Markets
Symposium on ‘Do ethnographers make markets?’
This special issue has been a truly collective inquiry. It began with a simple intuition: the fact that social researchers, who normally study how practitioners make markets, are invited to collaborate in market interventions is something worth thinking about. Those who contributed with their articles generously agreed to work with this premise (Björklund Larsen Citation2023; Geiger and Gross Citation2022; Onto and Fernandes Citation2025; Ossandó…
The times they are a-changin: Markets After Neoliberalism, and How to Study Them
Market Studies: Mapping, Theorizing and Impacting Market Action
Market studies is a newly emerging field dedicated to understanding the origins, core concepts, theories and methods currently being used and developed to examine markets in the making. Providing a unique overview that introduces, positions and develops this highly fertile area of research, Market Studies is the first book to consolidate its themes, tools and methods in a single, comprehensive volume. Topics covered include: market organization a…
Making Markets Material: Enactments, Resistances, and Erasures of Materiality in the Graduate Labour Market
Scholarship on the graduate labour market, preoccupied by structure, agency, and power, has largely focused on the market's discursive composition. It has not yet paid significant attention to the concrete, material apparatus of the market and how this shapes market outcomes. In contrast, we approach the construction of the graduate labour market from a new materialist perspective and with reference to the growing literature of 'market studies'. …
Shouldn't we all be doing cultural economy
Peer reviewed
How ‘matter matters’ for morality: The case of a stock exchange
While matter clearly matters to organization theory, its absence from the study of organizational ethics is striking. Despite the obdurate materiality of the workplace, critical scholarship on organizations and morality sees ethics as interpersonal, subjective and embodied. Organizations, meanwhile, are characterized by moral anomie and dysfunction. This article advances our understanding of the material entanglements of organizational morality, …
Valuation ruptures: Breaking and remaking notions of 'good' in a US government agency
The flourishing literature of valuation studies has shown how values are enacted and temporarily settled through sociomaterial processes, highlighting the contestations and dissonances inherent in valuing. We extend this concern through a study of a sudden collapse and reconstruction of value - what counts as good - in a US government agency. Using ethnographic case study methods, we explore how the US Child Support Enforcement Program's performa…
Flaunt the imperfections: Information, entanglements and the regulation of London's Alternative Investment Market
The literature on financial market design is predicated on the efficient market hypothesis (EMH), advocating transparency, liquidity and universal information with a view to capturing efficient prices. We provide a counterfactual: the 1995 formation of AIM, the London Stock Exchange's junior market. AIM employs an alternative mode of market organization based on market imperfections. Our empirical study shows how AIM draws on reputation, social r…
The -ography of markets (or, the responsibilities of market studies)
How should we write about markets? What responsibilities does this writing bring upon us? This paper offers an immanent critique of ‘market studies’ scholarship, and through this a call to reflection and reformed action. Turning the intellectual framework of market studies upon itself, we come to see its texts as performative and agential. We discuss these qualities and the associated responsibilities via a reading of literature from the domain o…
Practices and meanings of non-professional stock-trading in Taiwan: A Case of Relational Work
Non-professional investors, especially outside the Anglo-Saxon context, represent an important and under-researched topic for sociological studies of finance. The paper presents a qualitative study of non-professional investors in Taiwan, where levels of participation in the stock market are very high. It shows that investors are embedded in complex networks of social relations, cultural norms and economic projects. We use Zelizer's notions of 'r…
Algorithmic Life: Calculative Devices in the Age of Big Data, edited by Louise Amoore and Vohla Poitukh
Reading Algorithmic Life makes one wonder if the social sciences’ excitement about ‘big data’ is somehow misdirected. The book reminds us that big data simply cannot mean anything without algorithm
Unsettling issues: Valuing Public Goods and the Production of Matters of Concern
What are public goods – of any kind – worth? How are they valued, and made valuable? What expertise is involved in their production? Questions over the value of public goods – a sporting championship, the arts, scientific advances or quality of life – figure prominently in our public and political discourse, as politicians and administrators struggle to manage the often competing claims of instrumental, economic reason and intangible, cultural ev…
The Possibility of Critique: New spirits of capitalism
In 2005, The New Spirit of Capitalism by Luc Boltanski and Eve Chiapello was published (in English) to great fanfare: ‘an astonishing combination ... a dizzying theoretical tour of the past 30 year
The state of affairs: Critical performativity and the online dating industry
In this article we pursue a dialogue between Callon’s (1998) ‘performativity thesis’ and Critical Management Studies (CMS). We make use of the performativity thesis to elaborate on the construction of a market and the generation of calculative and rational economic agency in a specific empirical setting: the markets for relationships offered by dating services. We find evidence for ‘effective’ performativity, where technical processes and outcome…
How does an old firm learn new tricks? A material account of entrepreneurial opportunity
Opportunity has become the central concept in entrepreneurship. Discovery-focused accounts assume opportunity to be objective and to exist independently of the entrepreneur. Process-focused studies critique such notions. We contribute to process-based conceptions of entrepreneurship with an account of opportunity as historically specific and materially embedded. Drawing on Latour we argue that opportunities are constituted through dense material …
Economic Embeddedness and Materiality in a Financial Market Setting
The notion of embeddedness ( Granovetter, 1985 ) neglects of the material dimension of economic relations. This paper contributes to the literature of market devices (Callon et al., 2007) with an exploration of the material dimensions of economic embeddedness in the case of the everyday market activities of a group of non-professional investors in the UK. It examines the attributes of a materially embedded market through the categories of socio-e…
On the Possibility of Organ Markets and the Performativity of Economics
Callon's (1998) ‘performativity thesis’ encourages us to consider how the boundaries of the economy are negotiated. This paper explores one such discussion: the contributions of economics to the debates over the introduction of markets for transplant organs. The paper pays particular attention to the normative aspects of economic valuation. It examines the philosophical antecedents of economic contributions to the debate, notes the rhetorical and…
The -ography of markets (or, the responsibilities of market studies)
How should we write about markets? What responsibilities does this writing bring upon us? This paper offers an immanent critique of ‘market studies’ scholarship, and through this a call to reflection and reformed action. Turning the intellectual framework of market studies upon itself, we come to see its texts as performative and agential. We discuss these qualities and the associated responsibilities via a reading of literature from the domain o…
Economic Embeddedness and Materiality in a Financial Market Setting
The notion of embeddedness ( Granovetter, 1985 ) neglects of the material dimension of economic relations. This paper contributes to the literature of market devices (Callon et al., 2007) with an exploration of the material dimensions of economic embeddedness in the case of the everyday market activities of a group of non-professional investors in the UK. It examines the attributes of a materially embedded market through the categories of socio-e…
On the Possibility of Organ Markets and the Performativity of Economics
Callon's (1998) ‘performativity thesis’ encourages us to consider how the boundaries of the economy are negotiated. This paper explores one such discussion: the contributions of economics to the debates over the introduction of markets for transplant organs. The paper pays particular attention to the normative aspects of economic valuation. It examines the philosophical antecedents of economic contributions to the debate, notes the rhetorical and…
Practices and meanings of non-professional stock-trading in Taiwan: A Case of Relational Work
Non-professional investors, especially outside the Anglo-Saxon context, represent an important and under-researched topic for sociological studies of finance. The paper presents a qualitative study of non-professional investors in Taiwan, where levels of participation in the stock market are very high. It shows that investors are embedded in complex networks of social relations, cultural norms and economic projects. We use Zelizer's notions of 'r…
Shouldn't we all be doing cultural economy
Peer reviewed
How does an old firm learn new tricks? A material account of entrepreneurial opportunity
Opportunity has become the central concept in entrepreneurship. Discovery-focused accounts assume opportunity to be objective and to exist independently of the entrepreneur. Process-focused studies critique such notions. We contribute to process-based conceptions of entrepreneurship with an account of opportunity as historically specific and materially embedded. Drawing on Latour we argue that opportunities are constituted through dense material …
The times they are a-changin: Markets After Neoliberalism, and How to Study Them
How ‘matter matters’ for morality: The case of a stock exchange
While matter clearly matters to organization theory, its absence from the study of organizational ethics is striking. Despite the obdurate materiality of the workplace, critical scholarship on organizations and morality sees ethics as interpersonal, subjective and embodied. Organizations, meanwhile, are characterized by moral anomie and dysfunction. This article advances our understanding of the material entanglements of organizational morality, …
Flaunt the imperfections: Information, entanglements and the regulation of London's Alternative Investment Market
The literature on financial market design is predicated on the efficient market hypothesis (EMH), advocating transparency, liquidity and universal information with a view to capturing efficient prices. We provide a counterfactual: the 1995 formation of AIM, the London Stock Exchange's junior market. AIM employs an alternative mode of market organization based on market imperfections. Our empirical study shows how AIM draws on reputation, social r…
The Possibility of Critique: New spirits of capitalism
In 2005, The New Spirit of Capitalism by Luc Boltanski and Eve Chiapello was published (in English) to great fanfare: ‘an astonishing combination ... a dizzying theoretical tour of the past 30 year
Unsettling issues: Valuing Public Goods and the Production of Matters of Concern
What are public goods – of any kind – worth? How are they valued, and made valuable? What expertise is involved in their production? Questions over the value of public goods – a sporting championship, the arts, scientific advances or quality of life – figure prominently in our public and political discourse, as politicians and administrators struggle to manage the often competing claims of instrumental, economic reason and intangible, cultural ev…
How does an old firm learn new tricks? A material account of entrepreneurial opportunity
Opportunity has become the central concept in entrepreneurship. Discovery-focused accounts assume opportunity to be objective and to exist independently of the entrepreneur. Process-focused studies critique such notions. We contribute to process-based conceptions of entrepreneurship with an account of opportunity as historically specific and materially embedded. Drawing on Latour we argue that opportunities are constituted through dense material …
Economic Embeddedness and Materiality in a Financial Market Setting
The notion of embeddedness ( Granovetter, 1985 ) neglects of the material dimension of economic relations. This paper contributes to the literature of market devices (Callon et al., 2007) with an exploration of the material dimensions of economic embeddedness in the case of the everyday market activities of a group of non-professional investors in the UK. It examines the attributes of a materially embedded market through the categories of socio-e…
On the Possibility of Organ Markets and the Performativity of Economics
Callon's (1998) ‘performativity thesis’ encourages us to consider how the boundaries of the economy are negotiated. This paper explores one such discussion: the contributions of economics to the debates over the introduction of markets for transplant organs. The paper pays particular attention to the normative aspects of economic valuation. It examines the philosophical antecedents of economic contributions to the debate, notes the rhetorical and…
The state of affairs: Critical performativity and the online dating industry
In this article we pursue a dialogue between Callon’s (1998) ‘performativity thesis’ and Critical Management Studies (CMS). We make use of the performativity thesis to elaborate on the construction of a market and the generation of calculative and rational economic agency in a specific empirical setting: the markets for relationships offered by dating services. We find evidence for ‘effective’ performativity, where technical processes and outcome…
The Possibility of Critique: New spirits of capitalism
In 2005, The New Spirit of Capitalism by Luc Boltanski and Eve Chiapello was published (in English) to great fanfare: ‘an astonishing combination ... a dizzying theoretical tour of the past 30 year
Algorithmic Life: Calculative Devices in the Age of Big Data, edited by Louise Amoore and Vohla Poitukh
Reading Algorithmic Life makes one wonder if the social sciences’ excitement about ‘big data’ is somehow misdirected. The book reminds us that big data simply cannot mean anything without algorithm
Unsettling issues: Valuing Public Goods and the Production of Matters of Concern
What are public goods – of any kind – worth? How are they valued, and made valuable? What expertise is involved in their production? Questions over the value of public goods – a sporting championship, the arts, scientific advances or quality of life – figure prominently in our public and political discourse, as politicians and administrators struggle to manage the often competing claims of instrumental, economic reason and intangible, cultural ev…
Practices and meanings of non-professional stock-trading in Taiwan: A Case of Relational Work
Non-professional investors, especially outside the Anglo-Saxon context, represent an important and under-researched topic for sociological studies of finance. The paper presents a qualitative study of non-professional investors in Taiwan, where levels of participation in the stock market are very high. It shows that investors are embedded in complex networks of social relations, cultural norms and economic projects. We use Zelizer's notions of 'r…
The -ography of markets (or, the responsibilities of market studies)
How should we write about markets? What responsibilities does this writing bring upon us? This paper offers an immanent critique of ‘market studies’ scholarship, and through this a call to reflection and reformed action. Turning the intellectual framework of market studies upon itself, we come to see its texts as performative and agential. We discuss these qualities and the associated responsibilities via a reading of literature from the domain o…
Flaunt the imperfections: Information, entanglements and the regulation of London's Alternative Investment Market
The literature on financial market design is predicated on the efficient market hypothesis (EMH), advocating transparency, liquidity and universal information with a view to capturing efficient prices. We provide a counterfactual: the 1995 formation of AIM, the London Stock Exchange's junior market. AIM employs an alternative mode of market organization based on market imperfections. Our empirical study shows how AIM draws on reputation, social r…
How ‘matter matters’ for morality: The case of a stock exchange
While matter clearly matters to organization theory, its absence from the study of organizational ethics is striking. Despite the obdurate materiality of the workplace, critical scholarship on organizations and morality sees ethics as interpersonal, subjective and embodied. Organizations, meanwhile, are characterized by moral anomie and dysfunction. This article advances our understanding of the material entanglements of organizational morality, …
Valuation ruptures: Breaking and remaking notions of 'good' in a US government agency
The flourishing literature of valuation studies has shown how values are enacted and temporarily settled through sociomaterial processes, highlighting the contestations and dissonances inherent in valuing. We extend this concern through a study of a sudden collapse and reconstruction of value - what counts as good - in a US government agency. Using ethnographic case study methods, we explore how the US Child Support Enforcement Program's performa…
Market Studies: Mapping, Theorizing and Impacting Market Action
Market studies is a newly emerging field dedicated to understanding the origins, core concepts, theories and methods currently being used and developed to examine markets in the making. Providing a unique overview that introduces, positions and develops this highly fertile area of research, Market Studies is the first book to consolidate its themes, tools and methods in a single, comprehensive volume. Topics covered include: market organization a…
Making Markets Material: Enactments, Resistances, and Erasures of Materiality in the Graduate Labour Market
Scholarship on the graduate labour market, preoccupied by structure, agency, and power, has largely focused on the market's discursive composition. It has not yet paid significant attention to the concrete, material apparatus of the market and how this shapes market outcomes. In contrast, we approach the construction of the graduate labour market from a new materialist perspective and with reference to the growing literature of 'market studies'. …
Shouldn't we all be doing cultural economy
Peer reviewed
The times they are a-changin: Markets After Neoliberalism, and How to Study Them
What Are Markets For?
A new perspective on the role of the market, and its future place in society. Markets are apparently straightforward: they connect buyers to sellers. But their operation is complex, depending on places, things, networks and performances. Belief in markets is a cultural and political ideology. They are a means of governance in modern society, linked to individualistic self-responsibility. But markets also have a darker side. Not everything should …
Meeting Santa and Making Markets
Symposium on ‘Do ethnographers make markets?’
This special issue has been a truly collective inquiry. It began with a simple intuition: the fact that social researchers, who normally study how practitioners make markets, are invited to collaborate in market interventions is something worth thinking about. Those who contributed with their articles generously agreed to work with this premise (Björklund Larsen Citation2023; Geiger and Gross Citation2022; Onto and Fernandes Citation2025; Ossandó…
Sociology (12 works) · Economics (11 works) · Political science (8 works) · Epistemology (7 works) · Law (7 works) · Management and Organizational Studies (6 works) · Social science (6 works) · Politics (5 works) · Positive economics (5 works) · Business (4 works)