Trading in the end times:keeping faith in financial markets

Literature on economic theology highlights the importance of myths and imaginaries to the shaping of economic action. Faith in the workings of contemporary capitalism often presupposes belief in dynamics of a metaphysical character, such as ‘market forces’ or ‘the invisible hand’. Yet we know less about how the faith-based dispositions of financial occupations support specific economic practices. This is important because economic reform might be less about regulating specific practices and organizations and more about shifting the social structures and faith-based commitments that underpin these. This, in turn, implies that financial occupations can be thought of as faith-based communities. We explore this through a qualitative field study of active asset managers, who have been inexorably losing position in the investment field in recent years. We identify four discursive repertoires that are geared towards keeping faith in active fund management: theological innovation; praying for the end times; finding new converts; and, ministry outreach. We contribute to economic sociology by demonstrating the cultural contingency of economic practices in a specific economic field and by illustrating the importance of faith per se to the functioning of financial markets.