The Alchemy of Economic Crises: From Ephemeral Disruptions to Enduring Narratives

The economic thought of crises has long been viewed as singular threads, stark in their contrast and disruptive nature. However, as Simone Polillo's incisive analysis reveals, these threads are not merely woven into the fabric of our economic reality; they are spun from the narratives we craft and the expertise we venerate.

Please look at the recent economic tribulations wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. This contemporary saga is a compelling overture to Polillo's symphony of ideas, illustrating how crises are not merely quantifiable events but cultural constructs negotiated and administered through a complex interplay of hope, regression, and technical intervention.

Polillo's work deftly navigates the confluence of two grand rivers of thought in political sociology: the transformative perspective, which views crises as catalysts for sweeping political metamorphosis, and the stabilizing perspective, which frames them as intricate puzzles of governance. This intellectual juxtaposition sets the stage for a more nuanced understanding of crises, one that acknowledges both their disruptive power and their paradoxical capacity to reinforce existing power structures.

Drawing inspiration from Michel Callon's economization approach, Polillo introduces us to a distributed model of crisis. This elegant framework invites us to contemplate crises not as monolithic events but as performative constructs shaped by a cacophony of narratives and diverse expertise. To illuminate this concept, we are transported to the labyrinthine economic landscape of 1970s Italy, where a "permanent crisis" unfolded like a complex opera, each act shaped by competing narratives and technical interventions.

In this Italian drama, we witness the curious phenomenon of crises appearing "uneventful" despite their potential for profound political restructuring. Polillo argues that this apparent contradiction stems from the proliferation of crisis claims and the technical devices that support them. Like a hall of mirrors, each reflection offers a different perspective, fragmenting our understanding and fostering uncertainty.

The Bank of Italy emerges as a central character in this narrative, its interventions during this tumultuous period shaped by the siren song of quantitative tools. As these tools gained prominence, they paradoxically reinforced Italy's commitment to market-oriented economics, even as they multiplied the voices crying "crisis."

Polillo's distributed model of crisis challenges us to reconsider our understanding of economic upheavals. It invites us to see beyond the traditional sovereign model, which views crises as either catalysts for transformation or management problems. Instead, we are encouraged to appreciate the dispersed nature of crisis claims and the intricate web of narratives surrounding them.

In this new paradigm, economic experts and their technical devices play a crucial role in the alchemy of crisis construction. Drawing on Callon's concept of hybrid forums, Polillo illustrates how expertise and lay knowledge intermingle in the crucible of crisis management, producing new understandings and social configurations.

As we conclude our intellectual journey, we are left with a profound realization: the tools we have crafted to control and manage economic crises may amplify their uncertainty and contribute to their permanence. This paradox invites us to delve deeper into the effects of our calculative efforts and their relationship with institutional projects like crisis management.

In essence, Polillo's work offers us a multidimensional and distributed model of economic crisis, a lens through which we can better understand the resilience of economic structures in the face of apparent chaos. It invites us to explore the complex dynamics in our economic world and question the nature of what we call a "crisis."

As we look to the future, we must ask ourselves: How will emerging technologies and data analytics reshape our construction and management of economic crises? Moreover, what implications does this hold for the stability and transformation of capitalist systems? These questions, born from Polillo's insights, beckoned us towards new economic thought frontiers promising rich intellectual rewards for those bold enough to explore them.

Reference

Polillo, S. (2024). Economy, politics, and critical events: From transformation to permanent crisis.?Economic Sociology: Perspectives and Conversations.?Retrieved from: https://econsoc.mpifg.de/49463/02_Polillo_Econsoc_25-3_July2024.pdf