Finance, Possessed: Sighting Supernatural Figurations in Critical Accounts of the Financial Crisis

Sine Nørholm Just

Finance, Possessed

Sighting Supernatural Figurations in Critical Accounts of the Financial Crisis

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › peer review

Resumé

In critical accounts of the global financial crisis, public commentators and academic investigators alike have sought to capture the causes and consequences of these disturbing events through figures of the supernatural. This paper sights three such supernatural figures: Vampires, zombies, and ghosts. Whereas the paper explores the figurative qualities and functions of each, the ghost is given special attention for two reasons: First, finance itself may be conceptualized as a fictitious form with no substance, a spirit with no body – a ghost. Second, the ghost is not only a conceptual figure of finance, but also holds a special place in the conceptualization of the figurative on which the paper relies. Thus, the paper is not only concerned with analysing figurative uses of ghosts in accounts of finance, but also with conceptualizing finance and figures as ghostly. As such, the main contribution is conceptual rather than empirical: The paper offers a grid that combines various functions of metaphor – stylistic, transactional, and constitutive – with their appearance in the guises of vampires, zombies, and ghosts, respectively, in the particular context of finance.

Originalsprog	Engelsk
Tidsskrift	Ephemera: Theory & politics in organization
Vol/bind	19
Udgave nummer	1
Sider (fra-til)	129-151
ISSN	2052-1499
Status	Udgivet - 2019

Citer dette

Just, S. N. (2019). Finance, Possessed: Sighting Supernatural Figurations in Critical Accounts of the Financial Crisis. Ephemera: Theory & politics in organization, 19(1), 129-151.

Just, Sine Nørholm. / Finance, Possessed : Sighting Supernatural Figurations in Critical Accounts of the Financial Crisis. I: Ephemera: Theory & politics in organization. 2019 ; Bind 19, Nr. 1. s. 129-151.

@article{1852faaffd274ab1998052524c210202,

title = "Finance, Possessed: Sighting Supernatural Figurations in Critical Accounts of the Financial Crisis",

abstract = "In critical accounts of the global financial crisis, public commentators and academic investigators alike have sought to capture the causes and consequences of these disturbing events through figures of the supernatural. This paper sights three such supernatural figures: Vampires, zombies, and ghosts. Whereas the paper explores the figurative qualities and functions of each, the ghost is given special attention for two reasons: First, finance itself may be conceptualized as a fictitious form with no substance, a spirit with no body – a ghost. Second, the ghost is not only a conceptual figure of finance, but also holds a special place in the conceptualization of the figurative on which the paper relies. Thus, the paper is not only concerned with analysing figurative uses of ghosts in accounts of finance, but also with conceptualizing finance and figures as ghostly. As such, the main contribution is conceptual rather than empirical: The paper offers a grid that combines various functions of metaphor – stylistic, transactional, and constitutive – with their appearance in the guises of vampires, zombies, and ghosts, respectively, in the particular context of finance.",

keywords = "financial crisis, metaphor, figurtion, vampire squid, zombie economics, spectral finance",

author = "Just, {Sine N{\o}rholm}",

year = "2019",

language = "English",

volume = "19",

pages = "129--151",

journal = "Ephemera: Theory & politics in organization",

issn = "2052-1499",

publisher = "Warwick Business School",

number = "1",

}

Just, SN 2019, 'Finance, Possessed: Sighting Supernatural Figurations in Critical Accounts of the Financial Crisis', Ephemera: Theory & politics in organization, bind 19, nr. 1, s. 129-151.

Finance, Possessed : Sighting Supernatural Figurations in Critical Accounts of the Financial Crisis. / Just, Sine Nørholm.

I: Ephemera: Theory & politics in organization, Bind 19, Nr. 1, 2019, s. 129-151.

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › peer review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Finance, Possessed

T2 - Sighting Supernatural Figurations in Critical Accounts of the Financial Crisis

AU - Just, Sine Nørholm

PY - 2019

Y1 - 2019

N2 - In critical accounts of the global financial crisis, public commentators and academic investigators alike have sought to capture the causes and consequences of these disturbing events through figures of the supernatural. This paper sights three such supernatural figures: Vampires, zombies, and ghosts. Whereas the paper explores the figurative qualities and functions of each, the ghost is given special attention for two reasons: First, finance itself may be conceptualized as a fictitious form with no substance, a spirit with no body – a ghost. Second, the ghost is not only a conceptual figure of finance, but also holds a special place in the conceptualization of the figurative on which the paper relies. Thus, the paper is not only concerned with analysing figurative uses of ghosts in accounts of finance, but also with conceptualizing finance and figures as ghostly. As such, the main contribution is conceptual rather than empirical: The paper offers a grid that combines various functions of metaphor – stylistic, transactional, and constitutive – with their appearance in the guises of vampires, zombies, and ghosts, respectively, in the particular context of finance.

AB - In critical accounts of the global financial crisis, public commentators and academic investigators alike have sought to capture the causes and consequences of these disturbing events through figures of the supernatural. This paper sights three such supernatural figures: Vampires, zombies, and ghosts. Whereas the paper explores the figurative qualities and functions of each, the ghost is given special attention for two reasons: First, finance itself may be conceptualized as a fictitious form with no substance, a spirit with no body – a ghost. Second, the ghost is not only a conceptual figure of finance, but also holds a special place in the conceptualization of the figurative on which the paper relies. Thus, the paper is not only concerned with analysing figurative uses of ghosts in accounts of finance, but also with conceptualizing finance and figures as ghostly. As such, the main contribution is conceptual rather than empirical: The paper offers a grid that combines various functions of metaphor – stylistic, transactional, and constitutive – with their appearance in the guises of vampires, zombies, and ghosts, respectively, in the particular context of finance.

KW - financial crisis

KW - metaphor

KW - figurtion

KW - vampire squid

KW - zombie economics

KW - spectral finance

M3 - Journal article

VL - 19

SP - 129

EP - 151

JO - Ephemera: Theory & politics in organization

JF - Ephemera: Theory & politics in organization