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Introduction: Volatility in finance, art, and culture

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 November 2023

Benjamin Lee  and
Emily Rosamond
Benjamin Lee*
Affiliation:
The New School, USA
Emily Rosamond
Affiliation:
Goldsmiths, University of London, UK
*
Corresponding author: Benjamin Lee, The New School, N-66 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10011, USA. Email: leeb@newschool.edu
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Abstract

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The term ‘volatility’ applies to changeability: both that which can be measured, such as temperatures and stock prices, and that which cannot be easily measured, such as affects and emotions. Quantitative financial volatility has typically been studied quite separately from art, culture, and everyday life. Randy Martin's work, which addressed the resonances between volatility in dance and finance, was a notable exception. Martin focused on derivatives, which played a critical role in the development of financialized capitalism, especially between 1973-2008. Arguably, however, derivatives are no longer the key drivers of volatility as a social and cultural logic. New assemblages of asset managers, rentiers, and online platforms - along with a pandemic, new banking crises, and ongoing climate emergency - are reshaping how volatility is produced and navigated. How might we rethink volatility in order to better grasp its changing logics? This introduction unpacks existing debates on volatility in finance, art, and culture, suggesting several directions in which new work in this area might depart from existing frameworks - some of which are pursued in this special issue. We focus on three broad lines of exploration: rethinking the intellectual histories of volatility; rethinking volatility across disparate post-2008 contexts; and imagining volatile futures through art practice.

Keywords

Volatilityfinanceartculturederivativescrisisoptionsfutures
Type
Editorial
Information
Finance and Society , Volume 9 , Issue 3: Volatility in finance, art, and culture , 2023 , pp. 1 - 17
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits noncommercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
© 2023 The Author(s)

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