ABSTRACT
The modern homo communicans seems to prefer to be connected to, and stay in contact with, his surrounding world. Mutuality and social cohesion through sustainable finance, especially at a decentralized local level, function as security mechanisms in the current era of turbulence. Following Illouz (2009), several theorists identify emotional capitalism as the cultural process by which new interactional-emotional scripts of economic relationships are illustrated ‘by the cultural frames of cooperation or team work’. In cooperation, most major ‘purchases’ take place among kin, friends, or acquaintances who substitute impersonal markets, especially when decisions involve high levels of uncertainty. Chang (2005) analyses how social networks are the most frequent sources of saving and investment information and are most utilized by those who have the least wealth. As this research suggests, connectedness rather than expertise prevails in important matters; in other cases, risk favours reliance on friends and relatives in order to make and sustain decisions.
