The 'markets' comprise one of the largest 'black boxes' of the present era, attributed with god-like powers that mysteriously determine the fates of contemporary societies. In this article I make use of some of the peculiarities of this situation in Brazil, especially the forms in which the financial crisis has been confronted, to suggest an analytic path capable of objectifying the zone of social space that we call the market and to show some of its recent developments, thereby rendering this reality sociologically comprehensible. In this sense the exploration of the 'Brazilian case' is exceptionally elucidative in terms of revealing a chronology that provides a much more nuanced view of the taken for granted autonomy of the financial world.
Sociology of finance; Financial crisis; Interest rate policies; Field of power; Financial determinism