Dr Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou will present his recent research as part of our Research Seminar Series.
Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou is the author of Speculative Communities: Living with Uncertainty in a Financialized World (University of Chicago Press, 2022). He is Associate Professor of Sociology at the UCL Social Research Institute, where he leads the Sociology & Social Theory Research Group. His current book project, tentatively titled Real Fake, is an intellectual history of conspiracy politics and distortion technologies in finance capitalism.
This talk examines the ways that speculation has moved beyond financial markets to shape fundamental aspects of our social and political lives. It argues that even our methods of building community and pursuing intimacy have shifted to the speculative realm as social media platforms enable and amplify our volatile wagers on uncertainty. The talk draws on a range of contemporary examples, from the global rise of nationalist-populist movements, to the opaque practices of derivative traders and the growth of dating and astrology apps, to demonstrate that “to speculate” means increasingly “to connect,” to endorse the unknown pre-emptively, and often daringly, as a means of social survival. Grappling with the question of how more uncertainty can lead to its full-throated embrace rather than dissent, the talk proposes a new conceptual framing of financialization and considers possibilities for counter-speculative movements that fight finance on its own turf.
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