Review of "The Social Life of Financial Derivatives: Markets, Risk, and Time" by Edward LiPuma (Duke University Press)

Edward LiPuma outlines a sociohistorical theory of the market that positions derivatives trading as initiating a new form of capitalism. The book also confronts the narratives that the financial sector tells itself about the causes and aftermath of the financial crisis, revealing the social relation...

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Main Author: Christian Quaresma
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Cultural Studies Association 2018-07-01
Series:Lateral
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.25158/L7.2.15
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author Christian Quaresma
author_facet Christian Quaresma
author_sort Christian Quaresma
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description Edward LiPuma outlines a sociohistorical theory of the market that positions derivatives trading as initiating a new form of capitalism. The book also confronts the narratives that the financial sector tells itself about the causes and aftermath of the financial crisis, revealing the social relations that underpin the entire enterprise. LiPuma exposes the wild-seeming speculation of hedge fund managers and traders as a rationale that disappears the social aspect of its own ritual induction and relational mode of production and reproduction. An understanding of the social underpinning of financial markets, LiPuma hopes, can lead to a politics of “just optionality” where the same methods for betting on securitized commodities (assets made liquid) like housing mortgages can be transferred into wagers that further the collective good. For Marxists, LiPuma has an urgent message: existing theories of the market are incomplete without an understanding of how financial capital, led by derivatives trading, has transformed the means by which capital reproduces itself.
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spelling doaj.art-b2bcbc07f5294ea6b14b7b95b54e94ab2022-12-22T00:14:43ZengCultural Studies AssociationLateral2469-40532018-07-017210.25158/L7.2.15http://csalateral.org/reviews/social-life-financial-derivatives-lipuma-quaresma/Review of "The Social Life of Financial Derivatives: Markets, Risk, and Time" by Edward LiPuma (Duke University Press)Christian QuaresmaEdward LiPuma outlines a sociohistorical theory of the market that positions derivatives trading as initiating a new form of capitalism. The book also confronts the narratives that the financial sector tells itself about the causes and aftermath of the financial crisis, revealing the social relations that underpin the entire enterprise. LiPuma exposes the wild-seeming speculation of hedge fund managers and traders as a rationale that disappears the social aspect of its own ritual induction and relational mode of production and reproduction. An understanding of the social underpinning of financial markets, LiPuma hopes, can lead to a politics of “just optionality” where the same methods for betting on securitized commodities (assets made liquid) like housing mortgages can be transferred into wagers that further the collective good. For Marxists, LiPuma has an urgent message: existing theories of the market are incomplete without an understanding of how financial capital, led by derivatives trading, has transformed the means by which capital reproduces itself.https://doi.org/10.25158/L7.2.152008 recessionderivativesethnographyfinancehedge fundsmarxismwages
spellingShingle Christian Quaresma
Review of "The Social Life of Financial Derivatives: Markets, Risk, and Time" by Edward LiPuma (Duke University Press)
Lateral
2008 recession
derivatives
ethnography
finance
hedge funds
marxism
wages
title Review of "The Social Life of Financial Derivatives: Markets, Risk, and Time" by Edward LiPuma (Duke University Press)
title_full Review of "The Social Life of Financial Derivatives: Markets, Risk, and Time" by Edward LiPuma (Duke University Press)
title_fullStr Review of "The Social Life of Financial Derivatives: Markets, Risk, and Time" by Edward LiPuma (Duke University Press)
title_full_unstemmed Review of "The Social Life of Financial Derivatives: Markets, Risk, and Time" by Edward LiPuma (Duke University Press)
title_short Review of "The Social Life of Financial Derivatives: Markets, Risk, and Time" by Edward LiPuma (Duke University Press)
title_sort review of the social life of financial derivatives markets risk and time by edward lipuma duke university press
topic 2008 recession
derivatives
ethnography
finance
hedge funds
marxism
wages
url https://doi.org/10.25158/L7.2.15
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