Valeur, valeurs et (é)valuation. Une étude exploratoire des concepts et des processus sous-tendant l’actuelle sociologie de l’évaluation

Abstract

In recent years numerous studies have been published under the title “Sociology of valuation and evaluation”. Even though the phenomena and approaches discussed in these studies are heterogeneous, they all assume a fundamental relevance of valuation and evaluation for the constitution of social order and the social construction of reality. Still, conceptual discussions on the appropriate terminology and theoretical premises are underrepresented. Drawing on the works of Simmel, Dewey, and Durkheim, the article proposes a general conceptual terminology that takes the current state of research and the tradition of social theory into account. The paper distinguishes “value” or “worth” from “values” on the one hand, and processes of “valuation” in the sense of value ascription from processes of “evaluation” in the sense of value assessment on the other. Moreover the role of emotions in practices of value ascription is emphasized and thus the need to draw on the sociology of emotions for further conceptualization.