Less than two centuries ago finance - today viewed as the center of economic necessity and epitome of scientific respectability - stood condemned as disreputable fraud. How this change in status came about, and what it reveals about the nature of finance, is the story told in Virtue, Fortune, and Faith. A unique cultural history of modern financial markets from the early eighteenth century to the present day, the book offers a genealogical reading of the historical insecurities, debates, and controversies that had to be purged from nascent credit practices in order to produce the image of today's coherent and - largely - rational global financial sphere. Marieke de Goede discusses moral, religious, and political transformations that have slowly naturalized the domain of finance. Using a deft integration of feminist and poststructuralist approaches, her book demonstrates that finance - not just its rules of personal engagement, but also its statistics, formulas, instruments, and institutions - is a profoundly cultural and politically contingent practice. When closely examined, the history of finance is one of colonial conquest, sexual imagination, constructions of time, and discourses of legitimate (or illegitimate) profit making. Regardless, this history has had a far-reaching impact on the development of the modern international financial institutions that act as the stewards of the world's economic resources. De Goede explores the political contestations over ideas of time and money; the gendered discourse of credit and credibility; differences among gambling, finance, and speculation; debates over the proper definition of the free market; the meaning of financial crisis; and the morality of speculation. In an era when financial practices are pronounced too specialized for broad-based public, democratic debate, Virtue, Fortune, and Faith questions assumptions about international finance's unchallenged position and effectively exposes its ambiguous scientific authority.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Book Description
Less than two centuries ago finance - today viewed as the center of economic necessity and epitome of scientific respectability - stood condemned as disreputable fraud. How this change in status came about, and what it reveals about the nature of finance, is the story told in Virtue, Fortune, and Faith. A unique cultural history of modern financial markets from the early eighteenth century to the present day, the book offers a genealogical reading of the historical insecurities, debates, and controversies that had to be purged from nascent credit practices in order to produce the image of today's coherent and - largely - rational global financial sphere. Marieke de Goede discusses moral, religious, and political transformations that have slowly naturalized the domain of finance. Using a deft integration of feminist and poststructuralist approaches, her book demonstrates that finance - not just its rules of personal engagement, but also its statistics, formulas, instruments, and institutions - is a profoundly cultural and politically contingent practice. When closely examined, the history of finance is one of colonial conquest, sexual imagination, constructions of time, and discourses of legitimate (or illegitimate) profit making. Regardless, this history has had a far-reaching impact on the development of the modern international financial institutions that act as the stewards of the world's economic resources. De Goede explores the political contestations over ideas of time and money; the gendered discourse of credit and credibility; differences among gambling, finance, and speculation; debates over the proper definition of the free market; the meaning of financial crisis; and the morality of speculation. In an era when financial practices are pronounced too specialized for broad-based public, democratic debate, Virtue, Fortune, and Faith questions assumptions about international finance's unchallenged position and effectively exposes its ambiguous scientific authority.
About the Author
Marieke de Goede is a lecturer in political history and international relations at the University of Amsterdam.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent analysis of the politics of finance,
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This review is from: Virtue, Fortune, and Faith: A Genealogy of Finance (Barrows Lectures) (Paperback)
This is a very compelling book that shows how financial markets of many types are created through politicized processes of discourse, court challenges, and regulatory regimes. What is particularly useful about this book is that the author does not just stake out an interesting argument, she also provides a good deal of evidence to make her case. For example, she charts how different forms of finance are made distinct from "gambling" through discourse, regulation, and court decisions.
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modern credit practices, moral problematization, financial rationality, financial discourses, financial participants, financial truth, multiple moneys, financial practitioners, financial sphere, sugar exchange, financial domain, financial practices, credit certificates Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, Supreme Court, Bretton Woods, Wall Street, The Economist, New York, Financial Times, World Bank, Bank of England, South Sea Company, Stock Exchange, Harvard Law Review, Board of Trade, Financial Revolution, House of Representatives, Charles Dow, Daniel Defoe, Pujo Committee, South Sea Bubble, Wheat King, Contemporary Markets Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!
modern credit practices, moral problematization, financial rationality, financial discourses, financial participants, financial truth, multiple moneys, financial practitioners, financial sphere, sugar exchange, financial domain, financial practices, credit certificates Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, Supreme Court, Bretton Woods, Wall Street, The Economist, New York, Financial Times, World Bank, Bank of England, South Sea Company, Stock Exchange, Harvard Law Review, Board of Trade, Financial Revolution, House of Representatives, Charles Dow, Daniel Defoe, Pujo Committee, South Sea Bubble, Wheat King, Contemporary Markets Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!
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