We must appease the markets: the space of sacrifice in the current financial crisis

Financial crises cannot be reduced to mere situations of panic, crashes, aggregated irrational behaviour or mimetically transmitted euphoria, as some analysts seem to suggest. They also represent situations defined by an outrageous economic violence in which social and economic relations experience drastic transformations, and whose victims end up suffering personal bankruptcy, indebtedness, the loss of standards of living or poverty. The latter of these crises is revealing this notable violence and the flagrant domination present in social relations; this is proved in the way more and more social groups marred by a growing vulnerability are sacrificed to appease financial markets. Inspired by the theoretical framework of the French anthropologist Rene Girard, our intention is to explore how the hegemonic narrative about the crisis has been developed, highlighting its sacrificial aspects.