ABSTRACT
The chapter introduces the sociology of valuation and considers its potential for studying failure. It first reviews the theoretical positions and empirical foci of the sociology of valuation and then presents three varieties in which this line of research approaches failure: as errors and biases, as unintended consequences, and as decoupling and ignoring. Alongside these varieties, it is shown how scholars of valuation draw attention to the myriad ways in which valuation systems do not work the way they are supposed to, have far-reaching consequences, and are contested. Yet, bringing together the study of failure with that of valuation also highlights a surprising research gap, which is the study of “failure judgments” and thus of failure as a specific valuation category.
