The Social Life of Financial Derivatives

Download or read book The Social Life of Financial Derivatives written by Edward LiPuma and published by Duke University Press. This book was released on 2017-08-11 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Social Life of Financial Derivatives Edward LiPuma theorizes the profound social dimensions of derivatives markets and the processes, rituals, and belief systems that drive them. In response to the 2008 financial crisis and drawing on his experience trading derivatives, LiPuma outlines how they function as complex devices that organize speculative capital as well as the ways derivative-driven capitalism not only produces the conditions for its own existence, but also penetrates the fabric of everyday life. Framing finance as a form of social life and highlighting the intrinsically social character of financial derivatives, LiPuma deepens our understanding of derivatives so that we may someday use them to serve the public well-being.