Financializing space, spacing financialization

Abstract

The paper develops a sympathetic critique of the concept of financialization. This concept has been developed to account for the empowering of financial markets and their influence over the unfolding of economy, polity and society. Processes of financialization are claimed to manifest at a number of scales, ranging from higher levels of instability within the economy as a whole, through pressure exerted on corporations by capital markets, to the equity effects of the financial system on individuals and households.. In seeking to explain the change within contemporary society financialization has to date been relatively underplayed, particularly when compared to similar and related concepts such as neoliberalization. While the concept of financialization has the potential to unite researchers across cognate social science fields, thereby building critical mass and recognition within social studies of money and finance, we argue that to date research has been insufficiently attentive to the role of space and place, both in terms of its processes and its effects. The paper explores a number of possibly fruitful directions for work on financialization to pursue, focusing in particular on the concepts of the financial ecology and financial citizenship.

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