Economic sociology should study what makes calculative action possible, not irrational intrusion
Evidence
Callon rightly refuses to confine economic sociology to the role economists often seem to expect it to take as an effort to demonstrate irrational “social” elements intruding into market processes and sees it instead as what might be called an “anthropology of calculation” which inquires into the processes that make calculative economic action and markets possible: … — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 65
Categorization
- DEFINE: Defines Callon’s ‘anthropology of calculation’ framing — a key conceptual tool for the broader performativity literature.
- XREF: Connects to the sociology-of-finance and performativity literature (Callon 1998) that this reader as an intermediate finance reader should know. — connects to: Rational action theory can analyze social systems without discarding social organization — Coleman, SocialCapitalCreation-1988, 31; Mathematicization of options trading happened through, not despite, pit trading’s bodily social structures — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera: How Financial…, 755; A rearticulated rationality functions as ammunition within power’s mechanics (+3 more)
Broader Connections
- Mathematicization of options trading happened through, not despite, pit trading’s bodily social structures
#exemplifies(0.75) — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 755 - Rational action theory can analyze social systems without discarding social organization
#expands(0.72) — Coleman, SocialCapitalCreation-1988, 31 - A rearticulated rationality functions as ammunition within power’s mechanics
#expands(0.70) - Economies of action get institutionalized into automated algorithms that modify behavior
#expands(0.70) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 939 - Failed prediction exposed latent flaws in the rational economic agent concept
#corroborates(0.70) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 696