Acknowledgments; List of figures; 1. Introduction: reimagining collective life; 2. Fin-de-siècle landslides; 3. Tensional individuality; 4. Social avalanches; 5. Cities; 6. Financial markets; Conclusion; Index.
A compelling account of how crowd dynamics, or social avalanches, are central to cities and financial markets.
Christian Borch is professor of economic sociology and social theory at the Copenhagen Business School. He is author of several books, including the award-winning The Politics of Crowds: An Alternative History of Sociology (2012).
'Internationally known for his work on the role played by the crowd
theory in the origins of sociology, particularly in France at the
end of the nineteenth century (The Politics of Crowds: An
Alternative History of Sociology, Cambridge, 2012), Christian
Borch, in this new book, develops a critical reinterpretation of
this tradition which brought him to build a completely original
conceptual apparatus. One of the interests of this frame is to
render again social sciences attentive to the plasticity and
uncertainty of social processes. Its empirical implementation sheds
a new light on crucial and misunderstood aspects of our modernity,
particularly in the financial sphere. An important book that will
trigger new debates in social sciences.' Luc Boltanski, School for
Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, Paris
'In Social Avalanche: Crowds, Cities and Financial
Markets, Christian Borch brilliantly re-reads nineteenth- and
early twentieth-century social, cultural and economic theories to
reveal how they identified the tensions experienced by modern
individuals trying to hold themselves together in crowds that also
carried them away. Borch makes new connections between denizens of
cities on the verge of losing their individuality in social
avalanches and algorithms running off the rails in
high-frequency-driven 'Flash Crashes'. A fascinating read
deeply relevant to our current era.' Robin Wagner-Pacifici,
University in Exile Professor of Sociology, New School for Social
Research, New York
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