Edward LiPuma 
Social Life of Financial Derivatives [PDF ebook] 
Markets, Risk, and Time

In The Social Life of Financial Derivatives Edward Li Puma theorizes the profound social dimensions of derivatives markets and the processes, rituals, and belief systems that drive them. In response to the 2008 financial crisis and drawing on his experience trading derivatives, Li Puma outlines how they function as complex devices that organize speculative capital as well as the ways derivative-driven capitalism not only produces the conditions for its own existence, but also penetrates the fabric of everyday life. Framing finance as a form of social life and highlighting the intrinsically social character of financial derivatives, Li Puma deepens our understanding of derivatives so that we may someday use them to serve the public well-being.