Financialisation and Populism: Friends or Foes?

• In Event: 1429 - Informal Discussion Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 4: Labor and Social Movements

Abstract

This informal discussion roundtable explores the curious yet surprisingly overlooked convergence of the worlds of speculative finance and populist politics today. It invites sociologists to engage imaginatively with the shared speculative practices observed in contemporary nationalist movements on the one hand and in global financial institutions on the other. Participants will discuss questions such as: if finance is inherently ‘global’, exceeding and eluding national boundaries so revered by right-wing populist movements, what explains the distinctly pro-finance agenda of today’s nationalist populists? Why do constituencies most affected by market de-regulation endorse finance-driven populist programmes? And what do traders’ speculative wagers on market uncertainty (e.g. in the obscured world of derivative trading which requires price volatility in order to generate profits) and populists' fanciful gambles on political uncertainty (from Trump’s dispute with the Federal Reserve, to Brexiteers’ tactics of expert-shaming) have in common?

Author

• Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, University College London