The making of a market: conceptions of control in the genetic paternity industry in Australia

This paper addresses the emergence of a new market in genetic paternity testing in the Australian context, drawing on the work of the US economic sociologist Neil Fligstein. In particular, it addresses Fligstein’s concept of ‘conceptions of control’, namely the claims made by entrepreneurs and managers so as to avoid price competition and stabilize their position in relation to competitors. The paper identifies an array of strategies directed towards the stabilisation of the genetic paternity testing market, and identifies three conceptions of control in the industry – an ‘incumbent conception of control’, a ‘niche conception of control’ and a ‘challenger conception of control’. The paper argues that the concept provides a useful grip on real world markets, but does not provide a model in a way that is comparable to that of the neo-liberal paradigm. On this account economic sociology still struggles to ‘go beyond’ critique of the neo-liberal paradigm and develop a more proactive sociological model of economic behaviour.