Jack, Lisa Janet

English

Portsmouth University Research Portal (Pure)

 Proceedings of Pragmatic Constructivism (2014) Vol. 4, No. 2, 32-38 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PROCEEDINGS OF 
PRAGMATIC 
CONSTRUCTIVISM 
journal homepage: www.ProPraCon.com 
Further explorations of possibilities, methodologies of the 
future and rogue traders 
Lisa Jack 
Professor in Accounting 
University of Portsmouth; Department of Accounting and Management 
University House Winston Churchill Avenue; Portsmouth Hampshire PO1 2UP; lisa.jack@port.ac.uk  
Abstract 
This presentation continues the discussion begun in May 2014 on the use of pragmatic constructivism and the actor 
reality construction framework in the analysis of financial crime.  Here, I examine one aspect, which is the use of the 
work of Barbara Adam on actors’ concepts of future time to develop an empirical framework for researching 
possibilities.  This is applicable to any empirical study using actor reality perspectives, but I am particularly interested 
in how rogue traders and their employers envisage and act on the possibilities open to them.  
 
Keywords: English medium instruction; higher education; university management. 
 
Introduction 
Barbara Adam is a social theorist based at University of Cardiff in the UK.  She has written about theories of time in 
relation to food, the environment and post-industrial development but since 2004 has been funded by the ESRC to 
develop a sociology of the future following from the work of Bell and Mau and others.  She also draws on the work of 
Weber to develop conceptual frameworks for the study of social action which is ‘performed in the temporal domain of 
open and fluid pasts and futures’ (Adam, 2010).  She is particularly concerned with the flow between fact and 
possibility (which makes an immediate simple connection with the actor reality framework) and with the methodology 
underpinning the concepts that she proposes.  From this, she begins to touch on empirical study but does not go as far as 
demonstrating methods, although other researchers are exploring methods for examining the future. Her contribution is 
to suggest that rather than knowledge, the nature of future oriented actions, processes and ethics are more appropriate 
objects of empirical study.  She explains it as: 
‘Methodologies associated with future studies are largely those appropriate for matter and space but 
inappropriate for the temporal realm.  They tend to focus on the products (the socio-material outcomes) of 
action and not the action, on the symptoms not the processes, on the material but not the temporal 
side….Without a thorough temporal analysis of the interweaving of past, present and future, and processes, 
however, much of what social scientists need to and should study escapes that methodology’ (Adam, 2008: 
114) 
Adam and her colleagues are pragmatists in the sense that they are concerned with the responsibility of researchers in 
their role as citizens as well as experts to create better future societies, another point of contact with actor reality 
construction.  However, her methodological standpoint is more toward critical realism than constructivism.  Despite 
this, I think that there are points of contact that make her ‘In pursuit of the Future’ project very relevant to our 
discussions. 
 
 L. Jack 33 
 Proceedings of Pragmatic Constructivism (2014) Vol. 4, No. 2, 32-38  
 
Therefore, I propose that we examine first, the concepts of the future that might help us to understand 
‘possibilities’ and ‘facts’ more fully.  Second, I propose that we examine the methods that could be used to understand 
actions, processes and ethics in a particular case (which draws in ‘communication’ and ‘values’).   
In brief, the work of Adams is rich in concepts but the following (taken from Adam and Groves, 2007; Adam, 
2011) are particularly relevant to the rogue trader study: 
• Future presents and present futures 
• Empty v crowded futures 
• Commodification of the future and disembedded futures 
• Frontier spirit 
• Valorisation of speed 
• Structured irresponsibility 
• Futures in the making (future making/future shaping) 
• Probable, possible, preferred and produced futures 
• Future as fact, fiction, fortune and fate. 
 
The context of investment banking and the trading floor presents a mix of actions that are future oriented.  Apart from 
the obvious trading in financial instruments which are futures based, the nature of accounting for fair values, the notions 
of strategic planning and the underpinning drive for financial status and wealth all mean that the actors within the 
environment are experiencing lived futures, a term Adam links to Heidegger’s notion of dasein.  The actions and 
processes by which the future presents of actors become present presents (or facts) – including those that are essentially 
fraudulent – can be traced and observed.  In other words, what were and are the possibilities open to them, what were 
and are facts, and at which point did future possibility become present or past fact, or be shown to be illusory?  What 
was negated along the way? How do we obtain evidence, and how should it be analyzed? For rogue trading, the 
possible sources of evidence are as follows: 
• Financial reports and other communications from the bank under investigation; 
• Media sources; 
• Autobiographical accounts by rogue traders (but these are often written in conjunction with a ghost writer or 
journalist); 
• Transcripts or reports from court cases; 
• Interviews where obtainable. 
 
All are mediated accounts – we cannot return to observe what is happening and are reliant on a mix of contemporary 
communications that are almost certainly subject to impression management and hindsight which is filtered.  However, 
memory is as important as more object traces of how actors thought about the future in the past.  One thing other thing 
we can do is observe the actions and processes of the bank now, and explore the extent to which their new future 
presents are shaped by cautionary tales of rogue trading from the past. 
In terms of methods, a discourse, narrative or content analysis that concentrates on finding the elements of 
possibilities and future thinking on all or most of the above sources is probably the best approach.  In addition, 
examining and mapping the actions and processes apparent from the accounts, and evaluating the ethical standpoints of 
actors would address Adam’s concerns that we do not just examine who had knowledge of what at which time but look 
at the actions, processes and ethics involved in future making.  No-one can know the future but it has a reality.  
Constructions of reality can have unintended consequences, whether built on fact or fiction, which brings us part way 
back to the original question of what financial crimes may tell us about actor reality construction. 
 
 
 
34  L. Jack 
 Proceedings of Pragmatic Constructivism (2014) Vol. 4, No. 2, 32-38 
 
Further explorations of 
possibilities, 
methodologies of the future 
and rogue traders
Presentation at the Actor Reality Perspective Workshop
Edinburgh September 2014
Lisa Jack
 
 
Bringing together future presents and 
possibilities - the work of Barbara Adam
Adam extends the definitions of present futures
v future presents from Niklas Luhmann
Present futures
Approaches to the future from the standpoint of the present
Through which we seek to predict, transform and control the 
Future for the benefit of the present.
Future presents
A standpoint which positions us with reference to deeds and 
processes already underway
It allows us to accompany actions actions to their potential impacts 
on future generations
 
 L. Jack 35 
 Proceedings of Pragmatic Constructivism (2014) Vol. 4, No. 2, 32-38  
 
Bringing together future presents and 
possibilities - the work of Barbara Adam
Present futures
Utopian approach that allows for prediction
Factual present is real, futures lack reality status
Future presents
Invisible process futures in progress are real and living
Are technologically constituted and enable us to transform future 
presents into present presents
Ethical potential differs between the two
(Adam and Groves, 2007)
 
 
Bringing together future presents and 
possibilities - the work of Barbara Adam
Commodification of the future 
The future is treated as an economic resource
Potential benefit of an action = expected return for the present
(Ibid)
 
36  L. Jack 
 Proceedings of Pragmatic Constructivism (2014) Vol. 4, No. 2, 32-38 
 
Bringing together future presents and 
possibilities - the work of Barbara Adam
Present futures
What can the future do for us?
Future presents
What are we doing for the future?
Are we the producers and managers of an open future?
(Adam, 2010)
 
 
Bringing together future presents and 
possibilities - the work of Barbara Adam
The future as fate, fortune, fiction and fact
(Adam, 2010)
Succession and duration have been replaced by 
Instantaneity and simultaneity
Electronic communications technology bestows on people
Powers that previously been the preserve of gods
(Adam, 2011)
 
 L. Jack 37 
 Proceedings of Pragmatic Constructivism (2014) Vol. 4, No. 2, 32-38  
 
In terms of bank trading floors
Can we ‘hypothesise’ at this stage that:
Executives, managers and traders have their own topoi
Managers are more involved with future presents
Traders are more involved with present futures
Managers have a future shaping role – future as fortune/fiction
Traders have an dis-embodied view of the future – more future as 
fate/fortune
Managers have more idea of succession and duration
Traders have more idea of instantaneity and simultaneity
Might this help us understand the possibilities (and facts) of each 
topoi?
 
 
In terms of rogue trading
IS there a financial crime: usual conviction is for falsifying records to 
cover rogue trades and/or losses.  
Can we ‘hypothesise’ at this stage that rogue trading:
Happens in a topoi in which the future is a commodity
Where the present future is more important than the future present
Where the future has become an extended present
Where mindsets fluctuate between future as fate, fortune, fact  in 
regards to trading
Where the fraudulent acitivity is either part of a fiction OR a fatalistic 
game OR a quest for fortune – what sort of possibility is it?
 
38  L. Jack 
 Proceedings of Pragmatic Constructivism (2014) Vol. 4, No. 2, 32-38 
 
Knowing the future – Memories of future.
Images. projections, expectations, 
Plans, actions,
Aspirations, hopes, fears
Symbolic verbal written auditory visual 
 
 
Thank you
 


Further explorations of possibilities, methodologies of the future and rogue traders

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Further explorations of possibilities, methodologies of the future and rogue traders

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