Financial crisis 2.0: Controlling the narrative and controlling the outcome

Abstract

This article intends to demonstrate that a good sociological approach to the "financial crisis" is to view the theme as a dispute between different social representations, rather than proposing an alternative explanation to the phenomenon (simply different from or complementary to those presented by the economists). I draw on information and assemble chronologies based on the situation in theUnited States, and particularly that of Brazil. I then suggest that there is not "a crisis" in the singular, but various narratives vying for primacy, and that this social game, first and foremost, provides the basis for the distributive conflict inherent to any capitalist society.