ABSTRACT
The contemporary stage of capitalism is characterised by financialisation, and this context triggers the rise of a special kind of optimisation, one that uses calculative methods deriving from financial economics. One of the aims of this chapter is to grasp the assumptions that are embedded in these financial calculations, and therefore understand what they are leading us to optimise today. Optimisation is originally a branch of mathematics and computer science that seeks to model, analyse and solve problems analytically or numerically. Optimisation is indeed a quest that may take various forms. The aim of optimisation is to draw the greatest benefit from the constraints that are recognised as relevant to the calculation, whether those constraints concern budget, time, energy or anticipated negative effects. Calculating optimisation requires a convention-based definition of what is to be maximised, and under what type of constraints. The work of optimisation intervenes in this relationship of conflicting objectives.
