The spirit of capitalism shifts from risk-taking to uncertainty-endorsing speculation.

Evidence

Importantly, as we have seen from the outset, speculation cannot be considered as merely reflective of autotelic action (Stimilli 2017)—that is, as “speculating for its own sake.” Today’s economic and political subject—to which I will refer from here on as homo speculans—throws itself into the swirl of our speculative moment with the hope of connectivity. It seeks not mere instant gratification but new secular mythologies. This contingent link between present and future that sets the tenor of current financialized life orients homo speculans and in turn emboldens its distinct imagination. As political economy steers investment and labor toward a chaotic—yet immersive—present, the spirit of capitalism undergoes a qualitative change: from the entrepreneurial animus of risk-taking to the uncertainty-endorsing speculative imagination. … Faced with the perpetual domino of collapsing promises, from housing and healthcare to work security and family, the translation from fiction to facts is now all but sidestepped. More and more, homo speculans lingers in the space of fictions, not irrationally, but because fictions become the most reliable ordering principle in a protean reality. — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 79

Today’s economic and political subject—­to which I will refer from here on as homo speculans—­throws itself into the swirl of our speculative moment with the hope of connectivity. It seeks not mere instant gratification but new secular mythologies. This contingent link between present and future that sets the tenor of current financialized life orients homo speculans and in turn emboldens its distinct imagination. As political economy steers investment and labor toward a chaotic—­yet immersive—­present, the spirit of capitalism undergoes a qualitative change: from the entrepreneurial animus of risk-­taking to the uncertainty-­endorsing speculative imagination. — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 119

Categorization

• DEFINE: Introduces and defines ‘homo speculans’ explicitly: a subject seeking connectivity and secular mythologies rather than instant gratification.
• XREF: The ‘spirit of capitalism’ phrase is a direct Weberian echo (via Boltanski and Chiapello); the risk/uncertainty distinction maps onto Knightian categories. — connects to: Capitalism has repeatedly embraced flexibility in prior historical episodes. — David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity: An…, 1211; Markets and populist publics may share a common yearning for uncertainty — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities: Living with…, 65; Marx and Weber framed speculation’s contradictions but ignored imagination’s role in capitalism — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities: Living with…, 228 (+5 more)
• QUESTION: The central claim that fiction becomes the ‘most reliable ordering principle’ — is this meant normatively or descriptively? Worth pressing whether the author concedes the right terrain by calling fiction rational.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities: Living With…, 79; Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities: Living with…, 119