Hidden Value: The Economic Sociology of Secrecy

• In Event: Economic Sociology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Roundtable 4: Money, Finance, and Valuation

Abstract

In this theoretical paper, I seek to develop a stronger understanding of what the economic sociology of secrecy might look like and why it is important. I first examine how the field of economic sociology has already identified ways that secrecy holds value to show how this has been applied. I then examine other subfields where secrecy appears in literatures, linking them to economic sociology. Finally, I argue that critically thinking about the value of secrecy in economic sociology is necessary today in a world where secrecy is embedded in all facets of life due to digital technologies and the affordances of anonymity and pseudonymity, where identities online are much more malleable than in previous eras.

Author

• Jeff T. Sheng, Saint Mary's College of California