A talk by Caitlin Zaloom, Professor of Social & Cultural Analysis at New York University.
About the Talk:
Why does speculation matter for anthropology? Envisioning the future and placing money on its realization unites the domains of economy and family, two arenas at the heart of anthropological investigations. Too often, however, anthropologists adopt the conceptual division between them. The distinction separates commodified relationships from those held apart from monetary exchange, like those between parents and children. The two domains, however, are neither mutually corrosive or analytically reducible, as the division would suggest. Examining the tools and practices of speculation can break down this division and its theoretical effects. In this talk, I’ll discuss the promise of household-based speculation for re-envisioning this distinction and recognizing the novel social forms generated around the financial achievement of family connections.
About the Speaker:
Caitlin Zaloom is a professor of Social & Cultural Analysis at New York University who studies the cultural dimensions of finance, technology, urbanism, and economic life. Her latest book, Indebted: How Families Make College Work at Any Cost, explores how the financial pressures to pay for college affect middle-class families. Zaloom is also author of Out of the Pits: Traders and Technology from Chicago to London.
This talk will take place on February 27th, at 10 Sachem 105.
The talk will begin at 3.30 PM EST.