Financialisation of Everyday Life
Lai, Karen P.Y. (2017) 'Financialisation of everyday life', In Clark, G.L., Feldmann, M., Gertler, M.S. and Wojcik, D. (Eds.) The New Oxford Handbook of Economic Geography, Oxford: Oxford University Press
28 Pages Posted: 21 Nov 2016
Date Written: February 25, 2016
Abstract
Over the past two decades, there has been a broad expansion of financial power in which the biopolitical terrain of individual subjectivity, aspiration and forms of conduct at an individual level are increasingly tied to global financial structures. This calls for more systematic and incisive analyses into the household and its constituent elements in understanding the construction and mobilisation of financialised behaviour and outcomes. This chapter identifies three key research themes for investigating the financialisation of everyday life. The first theme analyses how new intermediaries of finance have increased the influence and pervasiveness of financial instruments and solutions in everyday life. The second theme examines the discourse of risk-taking and self-management that has shaped the formation of financial subjects. The third theme concerns the role of the state in financialisation and considers whether it is a distant or reactionary agent in ‘context’ or a strategic actor who mobilises financialisation scripts for political-economic purposes. The conclusion puts forward a research agenda that highlights the household as a key site from which to explore the constructions and practices of financialisation and proposes specific areas for future research.
Keywords: Financialisation, financial subjects, households, investment, state, consumption
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