Imaginative labor and embodied cognition: Economic sociology as a cognitive science

Abstract

How do we imagine economic objects, processes, and actions? More importantly, if the future is inherently uncertain what limits the range of possible imaginings such that actors can agree and coordinate? Building on the work of Jens Beckert, I outline an approach to imagination and imaginative labor in economic sociology grounded on the insight that embodied cognition is central to the capacity for exploring possibilities for action and organizing abstract domains. To demonstrate this approach, I build on the use of metaphor analysis in sociology, cognitive anthropology, and cognitive linguistics to analyze a field whose fictional expectations have a significant impact on the global political economy: elite professional advisory firms. This is a field in the business of selling imaginative labor, both within the backstage work of recruiting and the frontstage work of selling.