Many actors try to organize markets: states, companies, international organizations, standards organizations, lobby organizations, volunteer organizations, trade organizations. We investigate the ways in which these organizations attempt to organize markets and how they work.

We ask questions like: How are buyers and sellers created and shaped, and by whom? How and by whom are products created and classified in order to be understood as environmentally friendly and socially equitable? Who monitors the markets, and how? How are markets represented in narratives, statistics, tables? How are different representations and tools used to create and shape markets? How do these types of representations influence policy decisions and other decision-making regarding market governance?

Within the theme we develop theories to explain how markets are organized, how they integrate with and influence each other, the strategies used, and the outcomes of organizing markets.

Theme established 2005.

Photo: Juliana Wiklund