 Performativity Matters: Economic Description as a Moral ProblemPhilip Roscoe
Chapter Chapter 6 in Enacting Dismal Science, 2016, pp 131-150 from Palgrave Macmillan Abstract: Abstract If performativity theory simply repeats that economists design markets, much of its radicalism is lost. Instead, researchers must consider the mechanisms by which economisation transforms social arrangements. This chapter develops the argument that economic description constitutes aspects of the social as economic. Following Austin and Butler, I argue that such description has a performative force, and is therefore politically and ethically charged. I suggest that an understanding of economic description as performative explain show economics can at once constitute and claim authority over an object. The chapter explores how economic description transforms social relations. It connects performativity theory to existing critiques of economic relations, and suggests that performativity research can develop ethically rich narratives without losing theoretical or empirical rigour. Finally, it urges performativity research to rediscover its radicalism in its ability to unseat the ‘meta physical presumptions’ of economics. Keywords: Economic Agent; Bare Breast; Illocutionary Force; Ethical Claim; Total Life Expectancy (search for similar items in EconPapers) There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it. Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:pfschp:978-1-137-48876-3_6 Ordering information: This item can be ordered from DOI: 10.1057/978-1-137-48876-3_6 Access Statistics for this chapter More chapters in Perspectives from Social Economics from Palgrave Macmillan |
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