Homo economicus has been succeeded by a speculative subject who accepts uncertainty

Evidence

Contemporary capitalism sees the risk-taking, entrepreneurial agent of the post–Bretton Woods era being refashioned as a politically disoriented, speculative subject who accepts rather than averts the future’s radical uncertainty. Homo economicus is no longer. But although much has been said about its pronounced death, we still know remarkably little about the social and political subject that has succeeded it. Over the course of this book, I conceptualize the ascendancy of what we may call homo speculans and the consequences of this development for contemporary societies. My core interest is in this most recent stage of financialization: the explosive expansion of high-risk speculation in and around financial markets that culminated in the 2008 financial crisis and the tumultuous 2010s. — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 25

Categorization

• DEFINE: Core statement defining homo speculans as the subject who accepts rather than averts radical uncertainty, replacing homo economicus.
• QUESTION: The claim that this subject is ‘politically disoriented’ — worth chasing how politics shapes this disorientation versus being shaped by it.