Introduction : systems of life, or bioeconomic politics / Richard A. Barney and Warren Montag -- Looking for (economic) growth in the eighteenth century / Christian Marouby -- An African diasporic critique of violence / James Edward Ford III -- Rousseau : vital instinct and pity / Pierre...

"Few activities or concepts are as maligned or as celebrated as speculation. Speculators cast implausible, seemingly contagious money-making schemes into the future, and their unsubstantiated risks leave untold amounts of collateral damage. At the same time, speculation mediates between the seen...

Chapter One: Usury, Sodomy, and Idolatry -- Chapter Two: Performativity in Postmodernity -- Chapter Three: The Commodification of Rhetoric in Classical Athens -- Chapter Four: Witchcraft and Representation in Early Modern England -- Chapter Five: Commodification and Performativity in Eucharistic...