From Moral Concerns to Market Values

Abstract

This chapter draws on the economic sociology literature and considers the effects of political consumer activism on market structures and practices. Its main argument is that activists who employ market-based tactics provide markets with alternative valuations of products, corporate reputations, and economic activities that challenge existing market values. These contentious forms of valuation modify the structure of opportunities for market operators, leading some companies to change practices or products, which may in turn influence market competition. Moreover, the new normative framing of market values by civil society may convince states to regulate corporate behaviour. This perspective reveals conditions in which normative concerns emerge about market activities and may be progressively integrated into market practices. This works through a complex mechanism of changes in the valuation of market entities, actors, and activities. Markets could then be locations for the emergence of moral economies that can challenge existing economic practices.