Salvage ethnography in the financial sector : the path to economic crisis in Scotland / Jonathan Hearn.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hearn, Jonathan, author.

Series:

New ethnographies.

New ethnographies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

HBOS plc.

Bank of Scotland.

Halifax plc.

Banks and banking--Scotland--History--21st century.

Banks and banking.

Global Financial Crisis, 2008-2009.

Bank mergers--Scotland--History--21st century.

Bank mergers.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (150 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Manchester Manchester University Press, 2017.

Summary:

This book takes a body of ethnographic data collected in 2001-2, during a year's fieldwork at the Bank of Scotland (BoS) and HBOS, and revisits it from the perspective of the 2014-16 period. It explores the tension between the 'ethnographic present' of the author's original research and the unavoidable alteration of perspective on that data that the economic crisis has created. The original research had been planned to take place in the BoS but in 2001, before the research began, BoS had merged with the Halifax to form HBOS. The book provides a long-term historical perspective on BoS/HBOS, from inception to the 2008 financial crisis, and then a consideration of the nature of historical explanation, under the rubric of 'theory'. The main attempts to explain the proximate causes of the 2008 crisis, as well as more encompassing political economic arguments about the trajectory and dynamics of capitalism are examined. The concept of 'culture' as applied to both national groups, Scots and English, and organizations, BoS and Halifax, are also dealt with. The book examines other governing concepts such as organisational change in the business world and social change, identity and the way Scottish and English experience their own personhood, and comparative nature of ethnographic research. The conclusion reviews and draws together the themes of the book, returning to the overarching question of historical perspective and explanation.

Contents:

Introduction: ethnography, history and the vagaries of research

History: from the Bank of Scotland's origins to HBOS and crisis

Theory: explaining financial crisis and conceptualising capitalism

Culture: nations, banks and the organisation of power and social life

Change: discourses of agency and progress in organisational change

Identity: struggles with personhood, nationhood and professional virtue

Comparison; doing ethnography and thinking comparatively

Conclusion.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 25 Mar 2026).

Includes bibliographical references (pages 139-145) and index.

ISBN:

9781526108357

1526108356

9781526128492

1526128497

9781526108340

1526108348

OCLC:

1132223356