ABSTRACT
In times of crisis, economic and political actors often search for and/or construct objects of ‘growth’, hope’ and ‘strength’ that may secure recovery. This chapter presents the ‘BRIC’ (Brazil, Russia, India and China) as one such imagined object, in which much hope has been invested since 11 September 2001. This acronym was coined by Jim O’Neill, at the time Goldman Sachs’ Chief Economist, after he watched the televised attack on the World Trade Center. Prompted by this haunting image, he began to envisage a new way of thinking about ‘growth’ that could transcend national perspectives and look beyond the West. With the onset of the 2007 financial crisis, this imaginary gained fresh popularity and was reinvented through the concerted efforts of diverse national and transnational forces (for example, international investment banks, economic strategists, international organizations, think tanks, national governments and business media corporations). This chapter explores the development of BRIC discourses and practices, considering them as economic and financial imaginaries from a cultural political economy perspective.
