‘Responsible investment’ : ESG and the post-crisis ethical order

Abstract

This paper looks at recent forms of ‘responsible investment’. It follows the use of ESG within a large global bank. ESG is a valuation technique that takes into account environmental, social and governance issues. Drawing on ethnographic data, the paper explores how ESG has become an accepted concept among financial analysts, and looks at how they implement it in their everyday calculations. It argues that ESG enables financial analysts to understand factors related to corporate responsibility as market signals and to use them to support their investment narratives. It concludes that the application of ESG has transformed ‘responsible investment’ from a normative attempt to increase the morality of investing into a speculative practice of valuation. This creates profit from current social contention and crises of capitalism.