Fifteen Eighty Four

Markets are everywhere—in our communities, workplaces, and even our personal lives—shaping society in important and often unnoticed ways. For many, markets are viewed as the solution to society’s most pressing challenges, from improving healthcare systems to combating climate change. Yet, for something so pervasive, markets remain surprisingly underexplored in terms of how they work, evolve, and are sustained.

While economists and social scientists have long studied markets, they often leave essential questions unexamined: What exactly are markets? Who builds and maintains them? What happens when they fail? And what ‘invisible work’ goes into keeping them running? These questions are rarely at the forefront of mainstream economic discourse, which tends to treat markets as ‘natural’ entities—emerging spontaneously wherever buyers and sellers meet.

This assumption perpetuates the myth of the ‘invisible hand’, which suggests that markets naturally regulate themselves. In reality, markets are carefully constructed and maintained systems shaped by a vast web of policies, technologies, and human labour. Moreover, markets are notoriously challenging to study due to their unbounded and amorphous nature. How would one begin to conduct an ethnographic study of something sprawling and intangible, like the informal trading networks in Senegal or the commodification of pollution rights in carbon markets?

Introducing Market Studies

To address these gaps, the field of Market Studies has emerged, offering a multidisciplinary approach to studying markets’ ‘inner workings’. Drawing from disciplines as diverse as sociology, marketing, management, economics, anthropology, geography, and design, Market Studies scholars aim to ‘disenchant’ markets—revealing them not as natural phenomena but as complex constructions shaped by human choices, materiality, contestation and power dynamics.

The intellectual thread connecting these diverse scholars can be traced to a single, influential book — Laws of the Markets (1998) by French sociologist Michel Callon. From this foundational text grew a robust and dynamic field exploring the forces that shape, sustain, and transform markets.

Exploring the Diversity of Markets

Our book, Market Studies, which brings together more than thirty contributions from leading and emerging voices in this new field, examines a wide range of markets, from the legal and political infrastructures impacting access to HIV drugs, the pricing and valuation systems for diamonds and vintage bicycles, Japan’s niche audiophile sector, Denmark’s biomass energy initiatives, the social investment market in France, Norway’s meat industry, Irish pubs during Covid, and the tourism-driven marketisation of Lapland, promoted as the ‘Official Hometown of Santa Claus’.

The book focuses on the often unseen work that shapes markets and keeps them running. For instance, in the case of French tradable certificates for energy efficiency, algorithms increasingly determine who has access to specific markets, what prices are set, and who is excluded—all without human interaction. These algorithms are not impartial; they reflect the priorities and biases of those who program them, often obscuring the power dynamics that govern market participation.

When Markets Misfire

Markets are not infallible. They can—and often do—fail, revealing their fragility and dependence on careful maintenance. Our book sheds light on these ‘misfires’ to better understand why markets break down. For example, legal and regulatory frameworks aimed at balancing intellectual property rights and public health often fail to provide equitable access to life-saving HIV medication. These failures highlight the unintended consequences of market design and the need for greater scrutiny.

Reimagining Markets for Social Good

One of the most exciting insights from our book is the realisation that markets are not fixed; they can be reshaped to serve society better. Rather than accepting markets as they are, we can design them to align with broader social goals, such as reducing inequality or promoting sustainability. For instance, our book shows how an algorithmic exchange has been used to ensure fair allocation of school places, addressing inequities in education access. Similarly, markets could be reimagined to support vulnerable populations, foster environmental stewardship, and strengthen community ties.

A Call to Action

The contributions in the book reveal that markets are a double-edged sword. While markets can create problems—such as limiting access to vital resources like medicine—they can also be redesigned or ‘corrected’ to solve these very issues. The problem isn’t markets per se; we lack understanding of their inner workings. By revealing detailed insights into the ‘plumbing’ of markets, much like architectural drawings reveal the inner lives of a building, this volume opens the door to designing ‘better’ markets that serve more inclusive, equitable goals.