ABSTRACT

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book is devoted to a discussion of the intellectual roots of the idea of performativity in the social sciences and in philosophy. Then it discusses performativity in relation to economic reality, with a short literature review. The reader is provided with a few indications of where this work stands in relation to the broader landscapes that must be taken into account in tackling the ‘provoked economy’. Then the book uses a series of empirical studies to flesh out the perspective. These are: an examination of the back office in an investment bank, a historical study on stock exchange automation, ethnography of consumer testing, a commentary on the pedagogy of financial valuation and an analysis of public management reform in France.