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Back in the bazaar: taking Pierre Bourdieu to a trading room

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  • Olivier Godechot

Abstract

Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu's theory of aesthetic judgment, this text offers an inductive account of financial reasoning inside a trading room. Driven to maximise bank profits, trading room operators do not find ‘one best way’. Rather they choose among several possible winning strategies: mathematical arbitrage , economic analysis , chartist analysis . These strategies differ sharply from one another in their conception of the market, method, proximity to scholarly knowledge, and legitimacy. We show that the choice of one method depends on a system of tastes and distastes that are both historical -- depending on individuals’ social and educational background -- and relational -- depending on the individual's relative position within the trading room viewed as a field.

Suggested Citation

  • Olivier Godechot, 2016. "Back in the bazaar: taking Pierre Bourdieu to a trading room," Journal of Cultural Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(4), pages 410-429, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jculte:v:9:y:2016:i:4:p:410-429
    DOI: 10.1080/17530350.2015.1116461
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Horacio Ortiz, 2014. "The Limits of Financial Imagination: Free Investors, Efficient Markets, and Crisis," Post-Print hal-00966544, HAL.
    2. Zaloom, Caitlin, 2006. "Out of the Pits," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226978130, Febrero.
    3. Daniel Beunza & David Stark, 2004. "Tools of the trade: the socio-technology of arbitrage in a Wall Street trading room," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 13(2), pages 369-400, April.
    4. Catherine Aaron & Sébastien Galanti & Yamina Tadjeddine, 2004. "La gestion collective dans un marché agité : la dynamique des styles à partir des cartes de Kohonen," Revue d'économie politique, Dalloz, vol. 114(4), pages 507-526.
    5. Fabian Muniesa, 2000. "Un robot walrasien : cotation électronique et justesse de la découverte des prix," Post-Print halshs-00087467, HAL.
    6. Olivier Godechot, 2008. "Stratégies financières autour d'une table," Reflets et perspectives de la vie économique, De Boeck Université, vol. 0(1), pages 144-156.
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    Cited by:

    1. Olivier Godechot, 2019. "Conclusion: What finance manufactures," Post-Print hal-03393812, HAL.
    2. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/4ff88coju39nk8b11b5ghfc1ff is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Liliana Doganova & Martin Giraudeau & Hans Kjellberg & Claes-Fredrik Helgesson & Francis Lee & Alexandre Mallard & Andrea Mennicken & Fabian Muniesa & Ebba Sjögren & Teun Zuiderent-Jerak, 2018. "Five years! Have we not had enough of valuation studies by now?," Post-Print halshs-01935355, HAL.
    4. Michel Callon & Alvin E. Roth, 2021. "The design and performation of markets: a discussion," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 11(3), pages 219-239, December.
    5. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/4ff88coju39nk8b11b5ghfc1ff is not listed on IDEAS

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