Economic theory embodied in devices performs and creates its own posited phenomena.

Evidence

That concepts and material means are therefore constitutive of economic action that economic action involves distributed cognition in the sense of Hutchins (1995a,b) implies that the economic theory crystallized in concepts and devices is performed. Sometimes, I have suggested, this performativity is Barnesian: it helps to create the phenomena the theory posits. — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 1196

Categorization

• DEFINE: Precise statement of the Barnesian performativity thesis as it links to distributed cognition — core terminology of the book.
• XREF: connects to: Economic theory is commonly assumed to map perfectly onto a constant reality — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 119; Economic theories are endogenous and actively shape the world they describe. — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 122; Economic action as distributed cognition is what makes embedded theory genuinely performative. — Donald MacKenzie & Yuval Millo, Constructing a Market, Performing Theory, 200 (+9 more)

Broader Connections

• Economics actively shapes the economy rather than merely describing it #corroborates (0.95) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1987
• Economic concepts actively constitute the economic behavior they describe #corroborates (0.92) — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 105
• Financial theories can become true by guiding the practices they describe #expands (0.88) — Gerald F. Davis & Suntae Kim, Financialization of the Economy, 38