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Abstract
In the UK, from the 1990s, the concept of financial exclusion emerged as a focus of policymaking concern. In part, this reflects the growing scale and complexity of personal finance markets and how these are increasingly interwoven into the everyday lives of individuals. However, it is also argued that the development of the concept of financial exclusion reflects preeminent neoliberal discourses that emphasise the centrality of individual responsibility, autonomy and consumer participation within markets. In 2004 the then Labour government, in conjunction with academic experts, financial institutions and other organisations, established a project of financial inclusion in relation to three key domains: banking, affordable credit and financial capability. The consequence, it is suggested here, has not been so much to alleviate inequality as to nurture the poor to be precautionary, risk averse financial subjects. This stands in contrast with the virtues of enterprise and risk-taking called up in middle-class investor subjects.
Notes on contributor
Donncha Marron studied at University College Dublin and the University of Glasgow and is now Lecturer in Sociology at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen. His research interests include consumption, consumer credit, cultural economy and risk. He is the author of Consumer Credit in the United States: A Sociological Perspective from the 19th Century to the Present (New York: Palgrave).