Hybridisation, purification, and re-hybridisation: A study of shifting registers of value

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to add to the discussion on hybrids and valuing. We argue that more dynamic theorising is needed to understand hybridity. The aim is thus to further the discussion and to nuance the theorisation of hybrids and values by focusing on their emergence and shifts. The study is qualitative, and the empirical base is the handling of the pandemic in a Swedish county council and a municipality. The research question is: How and why did values emerge and shift in the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic? Our first contribution is the development of concepts whereby we centre hybridisation, purification, and re-hybridisation, as well as the concepts of first- and second-order dissonance. The second contribution is the enhancement of our understanding of the dynamics of hybrids. Our theorising adds to studies indicating the risk of hybrid settings collapsing and then reverting to pure states because of what we call second-order dissonance. Pure states, however, are always at risk of first-order dissonance and of exploding into hybrid states. Our observations advance research into both valuing and accounting, which tends to focus on specific established values, or on how accounting for a value emerges.