9th-11th August, 2018 | University of Gothenburg, Sweden

The tenth annual Critical Finance Studies conference will be held at the School of Business, Economics and Law, University of Gothenburg, Sweden from 9th to 11th August 2018. The conference is part of an on-going project that seeks to engage with finance in critical and creative ways. Although critical attention is regularly devoted to finance, it usually takes the form of a call for transparency, regulation or restructuring. It also tends to centre on ‘high finance’ rather than processes of financialisation, a term coined by Randy Martin that has provided many themes for past Critical Finance Studies discussions. Contributions that engage with the discourse of financialisation, perhaps in unexpected spheres or through historical examples, are especially welcome, as are new approaches to ‘high finance.’

We invite papers that critically discuss the workings of finance (for example: its material culture, socio-cultural practices, conceptual models, technologies, built environments, authorized or unauthorized forms, ways of communication etc.) in a novel way. We are interested in engaging with the problematic divide between the way finance is simultaneously lauded as a wealth creator and idealised career path, but also critiqued by popular culture and protest movements. Especially welcome are papers that approach finance through avenues that have been so far underexplored such as: theology, philosophy, art, music, film, new media, television, literary aesthetics, and popular culture.

Possible topics may include, but are not limited to:

• Aspects of financialization
• Finance in historical perspectives
• Financial media and advertising
• Finance and democracy
• Banking: structures, procedures, cultures
• Finance and the individual
• Money, gambling and finance
• Finance in popular culture
• Finance and risk society
• Finance and art

Confirmed keynote contributors are:

• Saskia Sassen, Columbia University and London School of Economics
• Orsi Husz, Uppsala University
• Brett Christophers, Uppsala University

The conference is free of charge, but for those who wish to participate there will be a possibility to buy a voucher on site, covering lunch meals and a conference reception on Thursday evening. If you wish to attend the conference without presenting a paper, please register by sending an email to the conference organisers.