Introduction Labels in Economic and Political Life: Studying Labelling in Contemporary Markets

This chapter discusses labelling as an operation that is both economic and political. From that angle, it provides a review of existing research stressing three aspects of labelling: the technicalities and institutions it requires, the way it may involve both the functioning and the politicizing of markets, and the implementation of public policies it supports. After presenting the different chapters of this book, it proposes to reflect on three dimensions of the articulation between the economic and the political that these contributions highlight: label affixing as the situated display of product information, labelling as a qualification operation and as process of problematization.