Seeing the World through Common Lenses ?
Abstract
Classifications play a key role in the evaluation of goods. This chapter sheds light on the process through which some classificatory tools emerge as shared institutions, that is, why actors decide to base their action on a certain name or trademark rather than another one. Drawing on the case of French contemporary poetry, the authors argue that understanding this process calls for examining actors’ uses, which are viewed through the concepts of substitutability and instability. The chapter shows that two kinds of classifications impose themselves as institutions. The first are those whose numerous uses cover wide meanings rooted in history and which appear as a “passage obligé” in a given context, while the second employ more specific definitions. The authors conclude by opening new paths for research on the birth of institutions.