Performativity and Politics: The Making of Commodity Futures Markets

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. From Neoclassical to Futures Markets

2.1 Neoclassical Market Theory

2.2 Politics and Neoclassical Market Theory

2.3 Commodity Futures Markets

3. Performativity and Politics

3.1 Approaches to Performativity

3.2 The Politics of Performativity

4. The Making of Commodity Futures Markets

4.1 Performing Commodity Futures Markets

4.2 The Politics of Commodity Futures Markets

4.3 Financialization, Bubbles and Counterperformativity

4.4 Distributive Impacts

5. Conclusion

Research Objectives & Core Themes

This work examines the relationship between neoclassical economic theory and real-world commodity futures markets (CFMs) by applying the theory of performativity. It seeks to explain how economic theory serves as a 'blueprint' for market formation and analyzes the distributive impacts that arise from these performative processes and their subsequent financialization.

• The role of neoclassical theory in the creation and transformation of CFMs.
• The application of performativity theory to understand conscious market making.
• The influence of agency, power, and political factors on market outcomes.
• The causes and distributive consequences of counterperformativity and commodity price bubbles.

Excerpt from the Book

Summary of Chapters

1. Introduction: Presents the research aim of analyzing the relationship between economic theory and real-world commodity markets, introducing performativity as a lens for this inquiry.

2. From Neoclassical to Futures Markets: Details neoclassical market theory and its idealized abstractions, contrasting them with the structural reality of commodity futures markets.

3. Performativity and Politics: Explores various performativity approaches and highlights the need to integrate political dimensions like agency, power, and distribution.

4. The Making of Commodity Futures Markets: Empirically investigates the historical development, political influence, and recent financialization of futures markets, illustrating instances of counterperformativity.

5. Conclusion: Summarizes the findings on how conscious market making realized neoclassical ideals, while noting that subsequent instability has led to adverse distributive consequences.

Keywords

Commodity Futures Markets, Performativity Theory, Economic Theory, Political Economy, Equilibrium Economics, Financialization, Economic History, Wheat Markets, Agency, Power, Market Making, Counterperformativity, Distributional Impacts, Neoclassical Economics, Market Stability.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the core focus of this research?

This work focuses on analyzing the relationship between neoclassical economic theory and real-world commodity futures markets (CFMs) to understand how theory influences market practices.

What are the primary themes covered in the study?

The study covers the construction of markets, the role of economic theory as a 'blueprint', the influence of political factors such as power and agency, and the impact of financialization.

What is the main objective of the thesis?

The main objective is to provide a middle-ground explanation for how aspects of economic theory are realized in practice, moving beyond mere ideological dismissal or naive acceptance.

Which scientific methodology is employed?

The author employs the theory of performativity, specifically utilizing a network approach to trace how markets are consciously made through disentanglement and framing processes.

What topics are discussed in the main body?

The main body covers the theoretical framework of performativity, historical case studies of wheat market formation, the impact of political and discursive power, and the consequences of recent market financialization.

Which keywords characterize the work?

Key terms include Commodity Futures Markets, Performativity Theory, Political Economy, Financialization, and Counterperformativity.

How does the author define the 'blueprint' role of economic theory?

The author uses the term to describe how economic models are not merely descriptive, but are consciously used to format and shape market realities during their creation.

Why is the concept of 'counterperformativity' significant to this work?

It is significant because it describes how the application of economic models can cause market reality to deviate from theoretical assumptions, leading to instability and adverse distributional impacts.