Performative Work: Bridging Performativity and Institutional Theory in the Responsible Investment Field

Callon’s performativity thesis has illuminated how economic theories and calculative devices shape markets, but has been challenged for its neglect of the organizational, institutional and political context. Our seven-year qualitative study of a large financial data company found that the company’s initial attempt to change the responsible investment field through a performative approach failed because of the constraints posed by field practices and organizational norms on the design of the calculative device. However, the company was subsequently able to put in place another form of performativity by attending to the normative and regulative associations of the device. We theorize this route to performativity by proposing the concept of performative work, which designates the necessary institutional work to enable translation and the subsequent adoption of the device. We conclude by considering the implications of performative work for the performativity and the institutional work literatures

EU trade in financial services with ASEAN, policy coherence for development and financial crisis

In the wake of the financial crisis, negotiating free trade agreements (FTAs) with Southeast Asia has become a priority for the European Union (EU). Paradoxically, all the indications are that the EU will demand that Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand liberalize financial services trade with the EU. This article asks whether the EU\u27s policy undermines coherence between EU trade and development policies. It argues that the EU and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agree that financial services are crucial for development, but that they differ on the approach to liberalization: the EU advocates broad-ranging liberalization, whereas ASEAN countries favour a cautious approach, conditioned by their experience of the Asian financial crisis. In view of this divergence, the EU will have to rethink its approach to financial services trade liberalization in negotiations with ASEAN countries. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd