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The Zombie Bank And The Magic Of Finance

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  • Taylor C. Nelms

Abstract

This paper takes the appearance of the figure of the ‘zombie bank’ during the recent financial crisis as a starting point to think about how to historicize crisis. A zombie bank is an undercapitalized financial institution that continues to operate due to the support extended to it by the government; it emerged in 2009 as a vivid representation of contemporary capitalism in crisis. By tracing the intertwined histories of zombies and representations of capitalism, I argue for the importance of historical persistence when considering anxieties about the ‘magic’ of finance provoked by the recent crisis. Fears of zombie banks, I suggest, recapitulate capitalism's whitewashed origins in credit and in the Caribbean. The crisis, therefore, represents an opportunity not only to reflect on current engagements with capitalism through an investigation of the figure of the zombie bank, but also to interrogate our models of historical continuity.

Suggested Citation

  • Taylor C. Nelms, 2012. "The Zombie Bank And The Magic Of Finance," Journal of Cultural Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(2), pages 231-246, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jculte:v:5:y:2012:i:2:p:231-246
    DOI: 10.1080/17530350.2012.660793
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Donald Mackenzie & Fabian Muniesa & Lucia Siu, 2007. "Do Economists Make Markets? On the Performativity of Economics," Post-Print halshs-00149145, HAL.
    2. Poovey, Mary, 2008. "Genres of the Credit Economy," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226675336, January.
    3. Fabian Muniesa, 2016. "The Problem with Economics: Naturalism, Critique and Performativity," Perspectives from Social Economics, in: Ivan Boldyrev & Ekaterina Svetlova (ed.), Enacting Dismal Science, chapter 0, pages 109-129, Palgrave Macmillan.
    4. Donald MacKenzie & Fabian Muniesa & Lucia Siu, 2007. "Introduction to Do Economists Make Markets? On the Performativity of Economics," Introductory Chapters, in: Donald MacKenzie & Fabian Muniesa & Lucia Siu (ed.),Do Economists Make Markets? On the Performativity of Economics, Princeton University Press.
    5. Poovey, Mary, 2008. "Genres of the Credit Economy," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226675329.
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