Governing by emotions in financial education

Pettersson, Jane; Wettergren, Åsa

doi:10.1080/10253866.2020.1847720

Cited by 9 publications

(12 citation statements)

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“…Many studies on financial literacy and education have taken a critical Foucault-inspired perspective, aiming to deconstruct the neutralization of the ideological and normative premises by revealing what 'truths' are taken for granted and which are obscured by discourse. As such studies convincingly show, financial education is 'a form of advanced liberal governmentality' (Marron 2014) that attempts to transform citizens into self-governing financial subjects who take responsibility for their own financial well-being while the dismantling of welfare states progresses (Finlayson 2009, Clarke 2015, Wolf 2018, Lazarus 2020, Pettersson and Wettergren 2020, Weiss 2020). In the present study, I use the Foucauldian concept of problematization to turn the analysis of governmentality in a slightly different direction.…”

Section: Financialization and The Problematization Of Financial Literacymentioning

confidence: 99%

The problematization of consumers in Swedish financial literacy education

Pettersson

2021

Cultural Studies

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Using the concept of problematization, this paper reveals the rationale for governing consumers in the practice of Swedish financial literacy education. Before the 1980s, the problematization of consumers was characterized by teaching economic thrift to 'at-risk groups'. Through observations of and interviews with teachers and organizers, as well as analyzes of policy texts, this study shows that contemporary financial education instead describes a whole population of consumers lacking 'financial self-confidence'. This study also shows how social, political, and economic developments prompted the problematization of the previously unnoticed issue of Swedish citizens' 'financial literacy'. Neo-liberal ideas and reforms, financialization, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's promotion of financial literacy are all strong factors in the current problematization of Swedish consumers and the ongoing practice of financial education. Financial education attempts to foster economically rational, responsible, self-reliant financial citizens; in other words, it seeks to make people more like the 'virtual consumer' of neo-classic economic theory. The ideal consumer of contemporary financial education is expected to turn to financial markets to ensure his or her economic welfare. Doing so is assumed to lead consumers to contribute to efficient and stable global and national financial markets. However, consistent with the local problematization of Swedish consumers as having diverse problems and needs in relation to finance, such education is adjusted to fit different categories of consumers. While some are said to require financial 'inspiration' to become active and engaged financial consumers, the traditional morality of thrift still characterizes financial education tailored for consumers deemed to be at risk of over-indebtedness.

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Section: Financialization and The Problematization Of Financial Literacymentioning

confidence: 99%

The problematization of consumers in Swedish financial literacy education

Pettersson

2021

Cultural Studies

Self Cite

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“…The lecturer explained to the participants why they needed to revise their personal finance management. The field note neatly illustrates financial education in general, and the most essential message is " Because the world has changed, so should you" ( Engdahl et al 2019;Lazarus 2020;OECD 2013;Pettersson & Wettergren 2020). Reflecting the national and international discourse of financial education, the title of the course -Secure Your Financial Future -tells participants to ensure they protect their own financial future; it is not realistic to expect the support from the Swedish welfare state to which we were previously accustomed while we, as the lecturer puts it, waste time " finding ourselves".…”

Section: The World Has Changed and So Should You!mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, the field note illustrates that financial education does not merely entail teaching citizens the " facts" of finance and how " the numbers work", but also involves attempts to foster financially savvy and self-reliant subjects. Hence, financial education is a site of governing and transforming subjectivities, a form of neoliberal governmentality ( Foucault et al 2007;Marron 2014;Pettersson & Wettergren 2020) attempting to make citizens financial " entrepreneurs of themselves" ( Foucault & Senellart 2008: 270).…”

Section: Jane Petterssonmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Research has shown that the increased interest and focus on citizens' knowledge of finance is intertwined with the societal process called financialization ( Finlayson 2009;Lazarus 2020;Marron 2014;Pettersson & Wettergren 2020;Weiss 2020;Wolf 2018). The concept describes the shift from industrial to finance capitalism whereby the realm of finance has come to play an increasingly important role in the functioning of national as well as corporate and household economies.…”

Section: Jane Petterssonmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In short, financialization research has shown how finance has developed way beyond its function as a capital provider for the productive economy, reaching even into everyday life via products such as mortgages and savings f unds -and, in particular, via the pension system ( Belfrage 2008;Belfrage & Kallifatides 2017;Davis & Kim 2015;Erturk et al 2007;Krippner 2005;Lapavitsas 2011;Mader et al 2020;Montgomerie 2020; van der Zwan 2014). While critical and often F oucault-i nspired analyses of financialization ( e.g., Ahnland 2017;Langley 2006Langley , 2007 and of financial education ( Marron 2014;Pettersson 2021;Pettersson & Wettergren 2020;Santos 2017) have successfully analysed and revealed the ideological and normative premises taken for granted in discourse, they have tended to neglect the likewise important issue of whether such governance attempts actually create the subjects they seek ( however, for a critical discussion of the performativity of financialization, see Gonzalez 2015;Pellandini-Simányi et al 2015). Therefore, the purpose of this chapter is to reduce the present knowledge gap concerning the issue of how the governance attempts of financial education are received by citizen attendees.…”

Section: Jane Petterssonmentioning

confidence: 99%

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This volume examines the transformation of subjectivities following contemporary societal trends with regulatory and administrative authorities targeting human subjectivity with the aim to transform it. It addresses the malleability of human subjectivity through rich qualitative analyses of how different governing attempts are received by the subjects themselves. While the scholarship on governmentality has so far produced an enormously useful body of literature on the ' how' aspect of governing, this book suggests that it has been prone to overestimate the degree to which our subjectivities are open to change. Combining ethnographic sensitivity with more traditional governmentality perspectives allows us to explore how governing attempts ' land' in the terrain t argeted -h uman subjectivity-i n actual social contexts, under specific forms of governing and rationality. In doing so, the book makes a distinctive contribution to a second generation of governmentality studies. It will appeal to social scientists with interests in governance, governmentality, social policy and the sociology of work.

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Turning Students into Stock Market Investors: The Role of Civil Society and Public Schools in Swedish Financialization, c. 1985–2010

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2024

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This article brings agency to discussions on financialization and financial education in Sweden by zooming in on two barely examined actors and arenas: civil society and public schools, respectively. The civil society organization Aktiespararna (Swedish Shareholders’ Association, founded in 1966) attempted to access and impact school education starting with its launch of youth efforts in the 1980s. Aktiespararna was joined in these efforts by Unga Aktiesparare (Swedish Young Shareholders’ Association), founded in 1990. This study describes the organizational strategies—tools, techniques, and discursive approaches—to reach Swedish upper-secondary school students. The result shows a crucial transition on how young Swedes were expected to relate to investing in stocks: from a special interest to pursue as either side activity or profession, to an inevitable part of everyday consumer life. The Swedish example is especially illuminating because it is general in its overall development from welfare state to market orientation. Yet, it emerges as distinctive in its pace and character. Apart from the apparent brisk, straightforward march from social-democratic hegemony, and one of the most regulated national economies in the mid-1900s, to a highly marketized and financialized society in the 2000s, Sweden holds a sociocultural history of strong popular movements and civil society associations. The article demonstrates important links between this aspect of collective engagement for individual progress and the financialization process.

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Governing by emotions in financial education

Cited by 9 publications

References 58 publications

The problematization of consumers in Swedish financial literacy education

The problematization of consumers in Swedish financial literacy education

Transforming Subjectivities:

Turning Students into Stock Market Investors: The Role of Civil Society and Public Schools in Swedish Financialization, c. 1985–2010

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