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This thesis is situated upon a terrain of global crisis that can be approached not only as an economic crisis but also as a crisis of the imagination. I take as my starting point the inability of either capitalism or the movements against capitalism to move beyond a failing neoliberalism. From here I investigate the imaginal processes involved in producing doubt regarding the necessity and permanence of existing forms of social organisation and in visualising and creating new ones. Approached through a genealogy of the imagination and the imaginary I develop a concept of the imaginal that corresponds neither to the individual faculty implication of the former nor to the unreality association of the latter. I draw on poetic methodologies such as the production of eeriness, negative capability, and the surrealist game, in order to understand how the imagination decomposes ossified concepts and social structures. I link these to arguments about the structure of time developed in the field of quantum physics to make a case that such processes correspond to a swelling of the real along spatial and temporal imaginal axes. Through a symptomatological analysis of a series of interviews with participants in newly formed radical anti-capitalist organisations, I identify and discuss a number of organisational practices and experiments aimed at the shifting of social relations whilst at the same time avoiding the formation of static and inadaptable structures. I bring a further theoretical angle to bear on these findings by engaging with the ideas of autonomised institution and the refrain. Lastly I reformulate the question as one of commons and enclosure, discussing commoning as a practice in antagonism with capital. I develop a set of ideas around the notion of the imaginal commons and the technologies of commoning that provide the possibility of its nurture and expansion.

This thesis wanted to operate two tasks. First, this thesis sought to perform a description of the contemporary functioning of the economy, that is to say of capitalism. This entailed an analysis of the current financialisation of world capitalism. Second, this thesis wanted to identify a revolutionary resistant subjectivity to financialisation. This implied to look for a subjectivity which could successfully resist the power of finance. The first task, that is to say the description of the contemporary economy, was performed through an engagement with an interdisciplinary and Marxian literature that problematised financialisation as a process related not only to the economy and production, but also to the State, social reproduction and even subjectivity. Marxism allowed me to understand the dynamics of capitalism and the current centrality of finance, which was expressed by the concept of financialisation. However, Marxism was unable to provide a sophisticated political strategy which would be based on a specific revolutionary subjectivity. Marx’s oeuvre never provided very effective political strategies. Therefore, the political economy of Marx was often complemented by Leninism as a form of political strategy, based on party politics and the vanguard of the proletariat. However, Leninism was connected to Fordist capitalism. Therefore, a new political strategy was needed in the context of financialisation. The work of Deleuze and Guattari provided a novel conceptualisation of subjectivity which could articulate a revolutionary resistance to financialisation. My revolutionary understanding of the oeuvre of Deleuze and Guattari was situated by an analysis of their reception by political philosophy because alternative interpretations existed. Therefore, this thesis sought to operate a fruitful dialogue, that is to say a resonance between Marx and Deleuze and Guattari.

The carry trade, where profits can be made in currency markets using price information alone, has been a persistent anomaly in financial markets since the collapse of Bretton Woods. This thesis outlines how, under free floating currencies, there have been waves of financial crises, financial sector growth has decoupled from GDP, and currency market activity has become increasingly concentrated in a few centres. The thesis uses the stock-flow consistent or accounting approach to explain the carry trade. Problems with the quality, coverage and timeliness of the SNA and BOP are discussed, with recommendations to improve the data for research into foreign exchange risks. The persistence of high and low interest rate economies is explained with hedge, speculative and Ponzi models of a simple economy. Disaggregating a typical carry trade strategy shows scant evidence for currency market efficiency or a constant risk premium. Rather, there is the impression that international liquidity is a co-ordination problem, and that foreign exchange losses are absorbed by the balance sheets of central banks and exporters. The key features of low interest rate economies are summarised as a Financial Consensus underpinned by a liquidity put from central banks during crises. These findings are consistent with the literature on endogenous money. Carry trade indices are suggested as a measure of the success of expansionary and contractionary monetary policy. In parallel, deficit countries would need tough fiscal and regulatory policies to tackle stubborn trade deficits, the risks posed by unsustainable external positions, the risks from leveraged offshore finance, profit accumulation and speculative capital flows. The thesis also outlines strategies for countries to resist losses to financial speculators: to move away from inflation targeting, to put in place mechanisms to recycle your own trade receipts, and to settle foreign exchange and derivative trades in domestic currency.

In the current globalised economic world, South Korea has maintained a more peripheral role. However, the country has produced some multinational corporations, and is considered a large player in the financial market. The miraculous growth of the Korean economy since the Korean War has been induced by the implementation of Western business philosophies. Strong conflicts with traditional values have however concluded in a multitude of (local) financial crises, most notably the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997. It has become clear to Korean companies that an optimal business environment can only be established by maintaining Korean identity in a globalised world. The current thesis investigates the maintenance of Korean self-identity, focusing in particular on the period of the current financial crisis. It provides a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the front covers of Korean economic magazines over this period in order to provide an indication of how traditional values have become intertwined with Western perspectives. As Yin-Yang is one of the most important traditional perspectives on life on the Korean peninsula, the thesis provides a semiotic analysis of each front cover’s background colour, text colour and vowel structure based on Yin-Yang principles and interprets these results in the light of events throughout the global crisis. Further examples of incorporation of traditional values will be discussed based on the history of South Korea, with specific focus on the economic history since the end of the Japanese colonisation. Results will show that, although Western-based business ideas were instrumental in restarting the Korean economy, it could only flourish by maintaining Korean self-identity, which remains part of every-day life. The thesis provides further insight for Western-based managers and businesses hoping to develop up long-lasting relationships with Eastern (especially Korean) institutions by taking into account traditional values; it also provides alternatives from Eastern philosophy which could be included in the Western ideas of social management within a community or a company. More generally, the thesis provides an understanding that people still value their self-identity in a globalised world, which could be included in product design philosophies to adapt products towards local traditions and values.

This study investigates the growing commercial focus of microfinance institutions in Pakistan. Specifically, the aim of the study is to examine the impact of commercialisation on microfinance institutions and their users or clients – micro borrowers. A selective review of the multidisciplinary literature on microfinance, its commercialisation and its context specifically in Pakistan is used to develop a conceptual framework for the thesis. The study uses mixed methods, where analysis of a series of interviews and focus group meetings is combined with quantitative data analysis to give deeper and more nuanced understanding of the consequences of microfinance’s commercialisation. Moreover, particular attention is given to important themes, including: outreach, profitability, mission, and the prevailing practices of microfinance institutions. The principal findings of the study indicate, firstly, that with increased commercialisation, microfinance institutions in Pakistan tend to confined to a few parts of the country, mostly urban; in particular microfinance tends not to reach rural areas where poverty is more widespread. Secondly, it is found that microfinance institutions and some of the borrowers employ unsavoury practices that exploit cultural norms. Finally, this study argues that commercialisation of microfinance has resulted in a negative impact not only on micro borrowers but also on commercial microfinance institutions themselves, which largely fail to achieve their stated objective of profitability and ‘sustainability’.