Financialization of Everyday Life

This chapter identifies three key research themes for investigating the financialization of everyday life, whereby individual subjectivity, aspiration, and forms of conduct at the level of individuals and households are increasingly tied to financial structures and logics. 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 examines the discourse of risk taking and self-management that has shaped the formation of financial subjects. The third concerns the role of the state in financialization and considers whether it is a distant or reactionary agent in ‘context’ or a strategic actor who mobilizes financialization scripts for political–economic purposes. A research agenda is put forward that highlights the household as a key site from which to explore the constructions and practices of financialization and proposes specific areas for future research.