On Justification: Economies of Worth. By Luc Boltanski and
Laurent Thévenot. Translated by Catherine Porter. Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 2006. 400p. $85.00 cloth, $39.50 paper.
Those interested in any of a variety of fields—reasoning about
justice, the foundations and mechanics of social interaction, rational
action, value formation, norm change, or conflict—will find rich
potential in this ambitious and challenging book by sociologist Luc
Boltanski and economist/statistician Laurent Thévenot, which
does not fit into any single research paradigm. Published in France more
than 15 years ago, the book is available in this English translation and
ought to have a significant impact on social theory generally.