Critical finance studies treat markets as discursively constituted rather than merely material

Evidence

Recently, there have been important critical studies of finance that challenge the fallacious separation of real and material economy and make illuminating inroads into the tenuous yet important sociality of finance, most influential among which the work of de Goede (2005) and Appadurai (2016). Such work has tended to consider finance primarily as a discursive domain, focusing on its “textual nature” and the power of its language (following Judith Butler’s core insights of performativity), mapping the discursive constitution of finance’s “material practices,” prices, costs, and capital. Correspondingly, both limitations and conditions of possibility in finance (however contingent) are often located within discursive domains. — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 578

4. Recently, there have been important critical studies of finance that challenge the fallacious separation of real and material economy and make illuminating inroads into the tenuous yet important sociality of finance, most influential among which the work of de Goede (2005) and Appadurai (2016). Such work has tended to consider finance primarily as a discursive domain, focusing on its “textual nature” and the power of its language (following Judith Butler’s core insights of performativity), mapping the discursive constitution of finance’s “material practices,” prices, costs, and capital. Correspondingly, both limitations and conditions of possibility in finance (however contingent) are often located within discursive domains. — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 578

Categorization

• XREF: Links to performativity literature (Butler, Callon) and to the reader’s interest in how imagination shapes markets. — connects to: Finance theory shapes markets through the linguistic infrastructure it provides practitioners — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera: How Financial…, 1128; Financial economics actively alters markets rather than merely describing them — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera: How Financial…, 64; Finance theory altered its own empirical object of study — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera: How Financial…, 388 (+5 more)
• DEFINE: Distinguishes the discursive/performative approach to finance that the book positions itself against.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities: Living with…, 578

Broader Connections

• A market model can shape markets actively rather than merely describing them #corroborates (0.92) — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 1165
• Finance theory shapes markets through the linguistic infrastructure it provides practitioners #corroborates (0.90) — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 1128
• Financial economics actively alters markets rather than merely describing them #expands (0.82) — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 64
• Finance theory altered its own empirical object of study #expands (0.80) — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 388
• Finance theory often shapes managers’ vocabulary without changing their actual practice #qualifies (0.75) — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 1136