‘Elephants can’t gallop’: performativity, knowledge and power in the market for lay-investing

Roscoe, Philip

doi:10.1080/0267257x.2014.976584

Cited by 36 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 83 publications

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“…Other studies, in turn, showed that the neoliberal, financially perceptive and autonomous subject positions are embraced by people themselves (e.g. Cook et al., 2009; Fridman, 2017; Ailon, 2019; Roscoe, 2015). This suggests a mixed picture of willing vs reluctant financialisation across contexts and raises the question, not addressed so far due to the qualitative nature of these studies, of which of these relations to financialisation is more widespread.…”

Section: The Financialisation Of Everyday Life: the Ideal Financialised Subject Vs The Lived Experience Of Financialisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While many of these suggested that the ideal financialised subjects of neoliberal discourse do indeed emerge in real life (e.g. Ailon, 2019; Cook et al., 2009; Fridman, 2017; Roscoe, 2015), others pointed to opposite tendencies. They suggested that rather than readily embracing these subjectivities, people unwillingly adopt them because they see no other option; appropriate and negotiate them; or openly resist them (Coppock, 2013; Di Feliciantonio, 2016; Gonzalez, 2015; Hillig, 2019; Montgomerie and Tepe-Belfrage, 2017, 2019; Pellandini et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reluctant financialisaton: Financialisaton without financialised subjectivities in Hungary and the United States

Pellandini-Simányi

Banai

2020

Environ Plan A

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The Foucauldian literature on the ‘financialisation of everyday life’ has documented the way neoliberal discourses and practices call forth willing entrepreneurial-investorial and debtor financialised subjects. However, recent qualitative studies on the lived experiences of financialisation suggested that financialised households are often unwilling to adopt the subjectivities of neoliberal discourse (which we call ‘reluctant financialisation’) and only selectively draw on their elements (referred to as ‘variegated subjectivities’). This paper uses quantitative data to examine whether willing or reluctant financialisation is more widespread and if there are geographical, cross-country differences; and to assess the ‘variegated subjectivities’ argument. We conduct two studies: in the first, we compare the extent to which financialised households embrace key aspects of the financialised subjectivities called forth by neoliberal discourse in the mature financialised economy of the United States vs newly financialising Hungary. In the second, we examine the ‘variegated subjectivities’ hypothesis in Hungary. Our results show, first, that the majority of financialised households do not hold the financialised subject position fostered by neoliberal discourse. Second, they lend support to the ‘variegated subjectivities’ hypothesis. This means that reluctance, rather than whole-hearted embracement of neoliberal subjectivities is the main experience of financialisation. Household financialisation is neither driven nor legitimised by households ‘buying into’ neoliberal discourses. Although this may indicate a larger resistance potential in everyday life than previously assumed, we suggest a more negative interpretation: that of ‘domesticated neoliberalism’, which does not require neoliberal subjects but co-opts households’ existing moral economies.

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Section: The Financialisation Of Everyday Life: the Ideal Financialised Subject Vs The Lived Experience Of Financialisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reluctant financialisaton: Financialisaton without financialised subjectivities in Hungary and the United States

Pellandini-Simányi

Banai

2020

Environ Plan A

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“…On the one hand, it has been argued that the relationships that are established between investors and the investment services industry play a key role in the beliefs developed by market practitioners. The investment services industry provides conceptions and metrological tools for analyzing financial markets, helps to create a discourse about these institutions, and forges strong emotional personal relationships (Roscoe, 2015). However, the rapid development of the industry of investment services may also help to change investor beliefs, with consequences that are difficult to predict.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What to Do in Financial Markets? Preferences and Incoherences of Future Investors

Lobão

2020

CJSSP

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The beliefs and strategies to be mobilized by individuals who are about to start their activity as investors in financial markets have been an issue scarcely explored in the field of sociology of finance. In this paper we present new evidence about the opinions of future investors recurring to a survey administered to 177 Master students of financial markets. Our results highlight the structural incoherence in the values adopted by future investors and the centrality of these social actors’ beliefs in the constitution of the prevailing practices in financial markets.

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“…Professional investors perform a less pure version of award-winning scientific financial arbitrage theory to correct price discrepancies in similar assets (Beunza et al, 2006). Last but not least, retail and professional investors use technical analysis (Roscoe, 2015, Thompson, 2013, which modern finance theory condemns as 'astrology' in efficient markets (Fama, 1995) but sociological research (Preda, 2004) demonstrates to be similar to scientific methods in its 'techniques of theorisation' (Callon, 2007). There are also practitioner models, blending scientific and practitioner theories and helping market actors value and forecast individual assets, for example, discounted cash flow (DCF) in the so-called 'fundamental analysis' (Fama, 1995), and calculate probabilities of market events and discern how others do it as a 'coordinating device', for example, 'spreadplot and implied volatility' (Beunza and Stark, 2012).…”

Section: Scientific Theories Performativity and Folk Economicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The American spirit: The performativity of folk economics in global financial markets

2023

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Inspired by Austin's conceptualisation of utterances as performative, that is, they do things rather than merely represent, research has shown how scientific theories can become performative in financial markets. Research also shows that brokerage and investment work is as much about using everyday knowledge of markets as it is about performing scientific theories. We investigate whether and how this knowledge or what Swedberg calls ‘folk economics’ can also be performative. We focus on Borsa Istanbul, an emerging market where market actors perform what we call ‘the American Spirit’ – a ubiquitous folk theory that frames and plots the Turkish market as one that moves in tandem with American and other developed markets – and in the process become better market forecasters. Our findings have implications for the study of folk economics and performativity in global economy and finance.

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‘Elephants can’t gallop’: performativity, knowledge and power in the market for lay-investing

Cited by 36 publications

References 83 publications

Reluctant financialisaton: Financialisaton without financialised subjectivities in Hungary and the United States

Reluctant financialisaton: Financialisaton without financialised subjectivities in Hungary and the United States

What to Do in Financial Markets? Preferences and Incoherences of Future Investors

The American spirit: The performativity of folk economics in global financial markets

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