Valuating Practices, Principles and Products in DIY Biology
Résumé
In this article, we study do-it-yourself (DIY) biology, by looking in particular
at the different forms of valuation within the DIY biology movement. Building
upon recent work in economic sociology and the study of valuation, we take
as case studies different projects developed by DIY biologists. Our approach is
attentive to the moments when these projects are valued, i.e. during
competitions, investment pitches, and crowdfunding campaigns. The projects
analyzed involve both market valuations (with investments, products and
potential markets) and non-market valuations (be they social, ethical or
cultural). Our key argument is that value is produced through distributed and
heterogeneous processes: products, practices, principles and places are valued
at the same time. We show that there is not only a valuation of technical and
production aspects (well highlighted in the key literature on valuation), but
also a valuation of social links and of speci
fi
c forms of organization. Both are
inseparable - it is neither the object nor the context in themselves that are
valued, but the “good-within-the-context-of-its-making”: the production of
vegan cheese or biological ink
and
the places and communities of DIY biology
or future markets are valued. The valuation practices we examine aim at
producing an
interest
in a threefold sense: a general interest (a public good),
an interest for the public (its curiosity), and a monetary interest (by making
people
fi
nancially participate).