ABSTRACT
Markets constitute an enigma for the social sciences. Even being at the core of classical interpretations on the organization of modern societies, they still spark vivid theoretical controversies, not only among economists, but also, and increasingly, among sociologists, anthropologists and political scientists. Food markets are even more challenging. P. Steiner categorizes them as “special markets,” as they involve values and beliefs that would never allow food to be reduced to a pure commodity. Initially, French sociology transformed food into a social fact. It was then disseminated among various social disciplines and contexts as a biocultural phenomenon or a “biopsychosocial fact”. Another particular aspect of food markets lies in the way they become subjects of strong scientific and political controversies. Among the institutional transformations that succeeded the crisis of the modernization project, those deemed most significant to Sociology of Agriculture are associated with the consolidation of a financial order.
