architecture, planning, peopleA Way of Life
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Inside the City: A sociocultural look at financial professionals The spaces of the modern office are often considered to be somewhat generic. However the social relationships and cultural norms in the financial corporation enrich an otherwise abstract world, this unique environment is embedded in the popular imagination in various ways. The office politics, social attitudes and background, can be revealed by looking at the etiquette of office small talk and desk mascots. And how these practices are continued in social life out of work? A series of interviews with professionals working in financial corporations were supplemented with an analysis of statistical data, and compared with media portrayals such as the ‘City Boy’ column in the London Paper (September 2006 - June 2008). This approach tests the validity of popular stereotypes such as misogyny, power, bonuses, and cocaine, associated with the financial sector, and begins to shed a light on the mysterious figures who manoeuvre the markets. The use of statistical graphics reflects the corporate economic obsession with abstract data and complex mathematical modelling, while the social and psychological content alludes to the emergence of behavioural economics as a way of understanding market dynamics. This study blew apart as many stereotypes of the financial district as it reinforced. The popular representation of the ruthless risk-taking city boy of excess is only a small part of a larger and more diverse world, one which is over emphasised in media stereotypes. The broad majority of the social and cultural life of the financial corporation is diligent and respectable. However it would be wrong to point to ‘a few bad apples’ as tarnishing the image of respectable professionals. There is a high degree of conformity, and an acceptance of the current framework on the basis of efficiency that seems to shape behaviour. Everyone talks about ‘the market’ or ‘the street’ in abstract terms distanced from their personal experience. There is a tendency to reach for pre-prepared opinions which are objectively justified by prior analysis. Behavioural economics describes how people make decisions which are hugely influenced by the way choices are ‘framed’. Financial professionals seem to operate within a given framework shaped by their surroundings. As such they are accepting of the system and perpetuate it, without a serious consideration of how the impact of their social and cultural life may influence the market. |
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  what: interviews and discussion when: 2010 where: This Is Not A Gateway festival with: Fiona Davies download: Inside the City pdf position essay: This is not a proposal |
