The Sociology of Greed : Runs and Ruins in Banking Crises

This book examines crises in financial institutions such as banks from the vantage point of greed of the people at their helm. It offers an intensive analysis of the banking crises under conditions of colonial capitalism in early-twentieth century Bengal that led to institutional and social collapse. Breaking new ground, the work looks at the moral economy of capitalism and money culture by focusing on the victims of banking crises. Through sociological analyses of political economy, it seamlessly combines archival records, survey and statistical data with literary narratives and performing arts. "The Sociology of Greed examines crises in financial institutions such as banks from the vantage point of the greed of the people at their helm. It offers an intensive analysis of the banking crises under conditions of colonial capitalism in early twentieth-century Bengal that led to institutional and social collapse. Breaking new ground, the book looks at the moral economy of capitalism and money culture by focusing on the victims of banking crises, hitherto unexplored in Western empirical research. Through sociological analyses of political economy, it seamlessly combines archival records, survey and statistical data with literary narratives, realist fiction and performing arts to recount how the greed of bank owners and managers ruined their institutions as well as common people. It argues that greed turns perilous when the state and the market facilitate its agency, and examines the contexts and histories, the indifference of the colonial state, feeble political response, and the consequences for those who were impacted and the losses, especially the refugees, the lower-middle class and women. The volume also re-composes relevant elements of Western sociological scholarship from classical theories to early twenty-first-century financial sociology. An insightful account of the social history of banking in India, this book will greatly interest researchers and scholars in sociology, economics, history and cultural studies."--Provided by publisher The Sociology of Greed examines crises in financial institutions such as banks from the vantage point of the greed of the people at their helm. It offers an intensive analysis of the banking crises under the conditions of colonial capitalism in early twentieth-century Bengal that led to institutional and social collapse. Breaking new ground, the book looks at the moral economy of capitalism and money culture by focusing on the victims of banking crises, hitherto unexplored in Western empirical research. Through sociological analyses of political economy, it seamlessly combines archival records, survey and statistical data with literary narratives, realist fiction and performing arts to recount how the greed of bank owners and managers ruined their institutions as well as common people. It argues that greed turns perilous when the state and the market facilitate its agency, and it examines the contexts and histories, the indifference of the fledgling colonial state, feeble political response, and the consequences for those who were impacted and the losses, especially the refugees, the lower-middle class and women. The volume also re-composes relevant elements of Western sociological scholarship from classical theories to early twenty-first-century financial sociology. An insightful account of the social history of banking in India, this book will greatly interest researchers and scholars in sociology, economics, history and cultural studies. Cover 1 Title 6 Coyright 7 Dedication 8 CONTENTS 10 List of tables 11 Acknowledgements 13 A convolute 14 Introduction 18 1 The institutional crisis 31 2 Retrieving trust: the banks, the state and the press 77 3 The victims 106 4 The losers’ responses 129 5 Grasping greed 152 Epilogue 193 Appendix 1 Banks in Calcutta, 1947 201 Appendix 2 Banks in liquidation 204 Appendix 3 Archival sources 209 Index 211