Today, many socio-economic struggles centre not on the organisation of production but on the recognition of, and claims over, asset values. Valuation extends beyond mere price-setting to encompass broader socio-political processes that define what is considered valuable, by whom, and through which practices and institutional mechanisms. Consequently, it is important to understand the relationship between the circulation of value, the extraction of rent, the production of space, and their mediation by valuation practices. Power, in turn, is embedded in calculative practices and spatial arrangements, structuring access to resources, opportunities, and decision-making authority, thereby reinforcing economic and social hierarchies. This workshop will explore the intersections of valuation, space and power to understand how economic value is constituted, where it is created and located, and who claims that value.
We are seeking Early Career Researchers (PhDs, postdocs or early career lecturers) from across the social sciences to submit abstracts relating to one or more of the following themes:
Accounting and calculative practices
Global wealth and value chains
Valuation and the built environment
Financial geography and valuation
Other related work on valuation, space and power
The paper sessions will be structured around 5 masterclasses with leading scholars, who will also provide feedback to ECR presenters:
Sarah Hall (University of Cambridge) - State, power and borders in the (re)spatialisation of finance
Adam Leaver (University of Sheffield) - Financial accounting and calculative practices
Valbona Muzaka (Uppsala University) - Public policy and the asset form
Mary Robertson (Queen Mary University) - Valuation and the built environment
Leonard Seabrooke & Duncan Wigan (Copenhagen Business School) - Global wealth chains
Call for ECR presenters
If you are an ECR and would like to present your research at this workshop, please submit an abstract (250 words max) using this Google form by 30 April. Your presentation can be on a completed paper or a work-in-progress, but must engage with the themes outlined above.
The workshop is free to attend and we have a small budget to support a limited number of presenters with travel and/or accommodation. It is funded by the Centre for Research in Accounting and Finance in Context (CRAFiC) and supported by Sheffield Urbanism.
For any queries contact Rafaella Lima at r.lima@sheffield.ac.uk. Organised with Adam Leaver, Callum Ward, Richard Goulding and Daniel Tischer at the CRAFiC, Sheffield University Management School.