2-day Paper Development Workshop on Practices with Per Skalen

TBS and TSM R jointly welcome Per Skålen in Toulouse on 4–5 November 2026 for a series of events on practice theory and care. 

Per Skålén is Professor of Business Administration at the Service Research Center and Karlstad Business School, Karlstad University, Sweden, and Guest Professor at the University of Vaasa, Finland. 

Day 1: A Practice Theory of Value: Bringing Care to the Center 

On 4 November, Per will give a presentation on the TSM campus in Toulouse.   

Abstract - What is value, and where does it come from? This talk develops a practice-theoretical answer to this question by challenging the dominant tendency to equate value with price, utility, preference satisfaction, or market exchange. Building on a new book project, Per Skålén argues that contemporary societies face not only economic, ecological, and democratic crises, but also a deeper crisis in how value is conceptualized and recognized. Activities that sustain life, institutions, communities, and ecosystems are often undervalued, while activities that generate profit may simultaneously erode the social and material conditions on which societies depend. 

The talk proposes an alternative account: value should be understood as a social and temporal achievement enacted through practices and grounded in care. Care is not treated as a sectoral concern limited to welfare, health, or domestic life, nor merely as an ethical supplement to economic life. Rather, care is positioned as a foundational condition for value because practices only endure when they are maintained, repaired, adjusted, and sustained over time. 

The argument builds on Skålén’s earlier work on value co-destruction, marketing-as-practice, and services-as-practices, while extending this research toward a broader social theory of value. By bringing together value theory, practice theory, and care theory, the talk offers a framework for understanding how value is created, sustained, and destroyed in markets, public services, communities, and institutions. 

For more information, please contact Isabelle Collin-Lachaud (isabelle.collin-lachaud@tsm-education.fr).

Participants to Day 1 and/ Day 2 are invited to join a dinner that will take place on the 4th (registration is compulsory, see below).

Day 2: Paper Development Workshop 

5 November will be dedicated to a Paper Development Workshop (PDW) in partnership with AFM (French Marketing Association) – GIT Pratiques du Marketing. The programme will include dedicated sessions for colleagues preparing submissions to the Marketing Theory special issue on Care, alongside sessions for those wishing to present projects related to practice theories, whether or not they are intended for the special issue.  

For more information about participation to the PDW, please contact directly Fabien PECOT f.pecot@tbs-education.fr . We only offer limited opportunities to present, based on fit with the topic and advancement. 

Accommodation