Performing Capital

ROB AITKEN is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Alberta, Canada. His research interests lie at the intersection of International Political Economy and Cultural Studies. His research focuses on the globalization of finance, the culture of everyday economic spaces and the relationship between governmentality and the making of economic space.

• PART I: PERFORMING CAPITAL Performing Capital: An Introduction Culture, Government, Capital PART II: POPULAR FINANCE AND THE NATIONAL BODY Geopolitics, Nation and Beyond: Performances of Security 'A Vital Force': Popular Finance and the National Economy PART III: POPULAR FINANCE, OWNERSHIP AND ECONOMICS OF INVESTMENT 'A Direct Personal Stake': Mass Investment and the New York Stock Exchange * 'An Owner's Sense of Interest': The Ethics of Socially Responsible Investing 'In Free-Enterprise...Free Is a Verb': Enterprise, Saving and Asset-Based Social Policy Toward a Cultural Economy of Popular and Global Finance

"Rob Aitken's work will leave readers in little doubt that 'finance capital' is not some coherent and extra-ordinary force that occupies a unique place outside of 'real' political-economic life, but is precariously assembled and visualised through the mundane performances of saving and self-government. Conceptually incisive and empirically rich, Performing Capital is essential reading for political economists and for all who are concerned with financial markets and the power of Wall Street"- Paul Langley, author of World Financial Orders and The Everyday Life of Global Finance"This is a wonderful account of the constitution of global finance in diverse spaces of everyday life. It is perhaps the first volume to take seriously the importance of visual culture to the history of finance. This book is an important addition to the growing literature on the interdisciplinary study of financial practice - and a good read!"- Dr Marieke de Goede, Department of European Studies, University of Amsterdam