SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in Business Administration
No 2003:15:
”Life is a fake. All that is real are the stock prices” - Simulating Authenticity in Financial Markets
Peter Norberg ()
Abstract: Technology has contributed to what Max Weber termed the
disenchantment of the world. Re-enchantment is a broad tendency than has
hitherto been described. This overlooked movement within post-industrial
business stretches into financial markets. Presently, we observe magic,
morality and narrative being allowed to enter business. Re-enchantment
helps us to understand the evolution of post-modern markets, as it partly
forms the present exit from industrial society.
This piece of research
takes a micro-sociological interest with the mentality and culture of
financial markets. It also has a macro-sociological character in dealing
with the process of rationalisation in society. The article gives a
contribution to theory about the evolving entertainment economy under the
heading of re-enchantment.
The experience of meaning or alternatively
deprivation of meaning is decisive for behaviour and interaction at work.
Technology in work is vital for this. I study four important aspects of a
desired re-enchantment; sense of community, expression, myth and magic, and
morality.
Keywords: re-enchantment; financial markets; morality; meaning; (follow links to similar papers)
39 pages, December 28, 2003, Revised September 2, 2004
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