The Financialization of the Public Sphere

• In Event: 328 - Section on Economic Sociology. Markets, Finance, Credit, and Money

Abstract

Financialisation is seen as a key aspect of globalization. It has been understood mainly as comprising three dimensions: the rise of global financial institutions; the pre-eminence of the financial services industry in developed economies; the transformations underwent by contemporary corporations, within which financial activities have become an autonomous center of profit. I argue that financialisation establishes itself and expands in the public sphere—that is, by addressing broader, non-specialised audiences. In order to expand in the public sphere, and not only at the level of specialised organisations, financialisation has to include expressive means of dramatization; it has to unfold as public performance; it has to hybridise formats of mediatic expression which were previously regarded as entertainment. I exemplify this process by ethnographic work conducted on the financial markets of Hong Kong.

Author

• Alex Preda, King's College London