Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou | Social Research Institute, University College London
From staggeringly expensive tech IPOs to big bets on the derivatives market, speculation has gripped the financial world. As sociologist Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou argues, however, speculative thinking has had the greater impact, shaping our larger social and political lives. As ordinary people make exceptional decisions, such as the American election of a populist demagogue or the British vote to leave the European Union, they are moving from time-honored and -tested practices of governance toward the speculative promise of a new, more uncertain future. As Speculative Communities shows, even our methods of building community have shifted to the speculative realm as social media platforms enable and amplify our volatile wagers.
