Performativity and the Politics of Equipping for Calculation: Constructing a Global Market for Microfinance
In: International Political Sociology, Band 7, Heft 4, S. 406-425
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In: International Political Sociology, Band 7, Heft 4, S. 406-425
In: Regulation & governance, Band 7, Heft 4, S. 481-495
ISSN: 1748-5991
AbstractCan the emergence of a new policy model be a catalyst for a paradigm shift in the overall interpretative framework of how economic policy is conducted within a society? This paper claims that models are understudied as devices used by actors to induce policy change. This paper explores the role of models in Danish economic policy, where, from the 1970s onwards, executive public servants in this area have exclusively been specialists in model design. To understand changes in economic policy, this paper starts with a discussion of whether the notion of paradigm shift is adequate. It then examines the extent to which the performativity approach can help identify macroscopic changes in policy from seemingly microscopic changes in policy models. The concept of performativity is explored as a means of thinking about the constitution of agency directed at policy change. The paper brings this concept into play by arguing that the "performative" embedding of models in institutions is an important aspect of how paradigm shifts unfold that the current literature has neglected.
In: International political sociology, Band 7, Heft 4, S. 406-425
ISSN: 1749-5687
This article argues that the concept of performativity deepens our understanding of contemporary, expertise-driven processes of global economic governance. Tracing the World Bank's role in constructing a global market for microfinance, the paper suggests that the World Bank was instrumental in translating selected parts of economic models into practice, thereby changing microfinance practices globally. Socio-technical networks centered on the World Bank were created to equip actors to become part of a global market, which incorporated not only donors but also commercial investors. The paper makes a critical intervention in the performativity literature by arguing for the need to take positional power and dominance in the socio-technical networks of International Organizations more seriously. This move improves our ability to specify how economic ideas and models are translated into practice in transnational arenas. Adapted from the source document.
In: Social networks: an international journal of structural analysis, Band 75, S. 39-54
ISSN: 0378-8733
In: Global networks: a journal of transnational affairs, Band 18, Heft 1, S. 3-32
ISSN: 1471-0374
AbstractNetwork data on connections between corporate actors and entities – for instance through co‐ownership ties or elite social networks – are increasingly available to researchers interested in probing the many important questions related to the study of modern capitalism. Given the analytical challenges associated with the nature of the subject matter, variable data quality and other problems associated with currently available data on this scale, we discuss the promise and perils of using big corporate network data (BCND). We propose a standard procedure for helping researchers deal with BCND problems. While acknowledging that different research questions require different approaches to data quality, we offer a schematic platform that researchers can follow to make informed and intelligent decisions about BCND issues and address these through a specific work‐flow procedure. For each step in this procedure, we provide a set of best practices for how to identify, resolve and minimize the BCND problems that arise.