Meet the b(w)ankers: an anthropological study of the City
Bankers seem to be the ones to blame for the mayhem of the past three years, tremendous financial losses, countries going bankrupt and rising employment rates. They are the new caste of outcasts – hated by many, but instead of filthy ghettos they inhabit spacious penthouse flats and work in state-of-the-art offices. Not enough, they drive glamorous cars and dine in restaurants where we could not even afford the starter. Isn’t that unfair? Doesn’t that make you really, really angry?
It’s about time that somebody looks behind the shiny facade of the City to show that it’s not that easy. Dutch writer and anthropologist Joris Luyendijk launches a new project: turning his back to the Middle East he is now studying the tribes and subcultures of the financial world. And: If there’s one thing that has suddenly begun to annoy me no end it is categorical statements about “the banks” or “bankers”. [...] If you are angry about “the banks”, you need to specify which parts. Otherwise you are like somebody who blames the BBC for what happened at News of the World; they are all the media, aren’t they?
It’s a promising start and I’m looking forward to reading more of that. The Joris Luyendijk banking blog provides the readers with insight interviews Voices of Finance. You can follow the project on Twitter @JLbankingblog.
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