Gilbert 2018 PUAN-1007R2.pdf (174.92 kB)
Bangladesh as the “next frontier”? Positioning the nation in a global financial hierarchy
In this article, I examine the relationship between the speculative projects embarked upon by young entrepreneurs and bankers in Dhaka during 2013, and the attempts made by analysts and nation-branding experts to present Bangladesh as a worthy “frontier” for speculative foreign investment. In order to induce others to speculate on their visions for Bangladesh, they variously positioned the nation via reference to the ratings imposed on it by credit rating agencies, the emergence of regional hegemons including members of the brics, and the apparent decline of “formerly” developed European nations. As purchasing power comes to mark a nation’s position within a hierarchical global market, nationhood comes to be recast as consumer-citizenship. The speculative imaginaries projected by these entrepreneurs, bankers and nation-branding experts have the capacity to both reinforce and rework the hierarchies into which “frontier” nations are routinely placed by analysts in global financial centres.
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Accepted version
Journal
Public AnthropologistISSN
2589-1707Publisher
BrillExternal DOI
Issue
1Volume
1Page range
62-80Department affiliated with
- International Development Publications
Research groups affiliated with
- Centre for Global Political Economy Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes