ABSTRACT
In the first part, the author considers the practical forms of theory, based upon the dictates of the moment that are crucial to the running of capitalist organisations. In the second part, the author builds on this base by considering the rise of reflexive management theory over the course of the twentieth century. However, there are two crucial differences between this virtual capitalism and virtualism in other spheres of life. First, as already noted, virtual capitalism will always be close to practical theory. Second, and related, reflexive business knowledge is performative. All knowledge, of course, involves embodied performance, usually in defined contexts that are a part of that knowledge and of the trust in which it is held. However, reflexive business knowledge is of a particularly performative character. In other words, it cannot be doubted that something akin to a virtual capitalism now exists, and that it is beginning to produce, perhaps for the first time, an international language of capitalism.
