Understanding the exercise of agency within structural inequality: the case of personal debt

Orton, Michael

doi:10.1017/s1474746409990066

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…A number of empirical studies have conclusively indicated that this, above all other factors, is a key determinant of debt and vulnerability to overindebtedness. As an example, almost two-thirds of households with gas pre-payment meters (as mentioned above, both a punitive measure and indicator of arrears) have annual incomes of less than £10,000 (Doble, 2000, cited in Orton, 2009). In a similar vein, two thirds of those with water debts have net incomes of less than £160 per week (Herbert and Kempson, 1995).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethopolitics and the Financial Citizen

Pathak

2014

The Sociological Review

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While personal debt has been the subject of intense research activity over the past decade, in particular from think tanks and government bodies, it remains relatively undertheorized and neglected in general by the social sciences. This article offers a novel theoretical frame for the analysis of personal debt – and personal overindebtedness in particular – by highlighting the construction of deviance from financial behavioural normativities. Using Nikolas Rose's concept of ‘ethopolitics’ to describe the relocation of government from questions of rational administration to those of everyday morality and ethics, this article presents two characterizations of deviance from an ethopolitical imaginary of financial citizenship: irresponsibility and incapability. From this framework, the article explores the nature of the state sponsored normalization of indebtedness and the stigmatization of overindebtedness as a corollary of ‘delinquent’ dispositions and dependencies. This article suggests that UK government policy concerning financial responsibility has been shaped by an ethopolitical imaginary of financial citizenship which is based upon a skewed understanding of structure and agency which has its parallel in the attribution of unemployment to ‘worklessness’.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethopolitics and the Financial Citizen

Pathak

2014

The Sociological Review

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“…However, analyses of poverty may not consider the assets and positive strategies used to overcome obstacles or the continuation of everyday lives in adversity (Orr et al, 2006;Canvin et al, 2009: Orton, 2009). In addition, definitions of 'resilience' or 'coping' may not be conceptualised in such terms by those in poverty, whose responses to their circumstances are often doxic (taken for granted) and perceived as a set of routinized practices: mundane, ordinary, normal and 'common sense' (Oliver and Reilly, 2010;Giddens, 1991;Stokoe, 2003;Savage et al, 2001;Allen et al, 2007;Saugeres, 2009;Mohaupt, 2008).…”

Section: Regimes Of Judgementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Talking ‘bout poor folks (thinking ‘bout my folks): perspectives on comparative poverty in working class households

Batty

Flint

2012

International Journal of Housing Policy

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This paper explores concepts and narratives of comparative poverty articulated by residents of six working class neighbourhoods in Britain and examines how individuals' assessments of self were influenced by comparisons to other social groups. The paper presents empirical findings to suggest the need for more nuanced sociological and policy understandings of working class experience and alternative explanations for quiescence with inequality. Our findings suggest disconnections between research emphasising relative deprivation and stigmatisation, a drive to evaluate economic status and the centrality of a comparative relational framework for perceptions of poverty; and the actual lens' through which many working class individuals conceptualise their circumstances. The denial of a social comparative paradigm was generated by circumstances being doxic (or taken for granted), the rejection of a 'poverty' label, the importance of self-trajectories and the ambivalent and nuanced relationships between material wealth, happiness and moral worth. However, a limited comparative gaze upon more affluent groups was contrasted with strong narratives of respectability and legitimacy juxtaposed with those groups deemed not to adhere to these working class values. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of these findings for housing policy.

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“…Society is thought to be constructed via structure (social, economic and political institutions and processes) or agency (individual actions). But recent debates have shown how ‘exercise of agency is overlaid onto structural inequality – it is about agency within structure’ (Orton, 2009: 496). Orton (2009) for example, draws on Lister (2004) who has moved debate beyond the dichotomy of structure and agency, to highlight empirically how debt is linked to both agency and structure.…”

Section: Household Assets and Debtsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…But recent debates have shown how ‘exercise of agency is overlaid onto structural inequality – it is about agency within structure’ (Orton, 2009: 496). Orton (2009) for example, draws on Lister (2004) who has moved debate beyond the dichotomy of structure and agency, to highlight empirically how debt is linked to both agency and structure. This has important policy implications around developing financial capability and job creation rather than politicians making moral judgments and drawing on discourses of an ‘underclass’ (to define those excluded from mainstream society), in light of the financial crisis which has resulted in increased unemployment and challenges to managing household budgets (Lister, et al ., 1996; Clark, 2011).…”

Section: Household Assets and Debtsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review Article: Household Finances Under Pressure: What is the Role of Social Policy?

Appleyard¹

2011

Social Policy & Society

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Within the context of the 2007 financial crisis and the (ongoing) financial crisis for many households and consumers, this review article explores the key debates in the social policy literature surrounding household accumulation of assets and debts. The first section contextualises emerging debates surrounding inequalities, financial exclusion and the need for greater financial citizenship within the post financial crisis era. The second section of the article considers household assets and debts, whilst the third section explores housing wealth and mortgage arrears. The fourth section examines recent research on how households manage their money. The final section of the article concludes by exploring the potential pathways for social policy research in relation to broader debates within the social sciences on household finances, assets and debts.

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Understanding the exercise of agency within structural inequality: the case of personal debt

Cited by 6 publications

References 16 publications

Ethopolitics and the Financial Citizen

Ethopolitics and the Financial Citizen

Talking ‘bout poor folks (thinking ‘bout my folks): perspectives on comparative poverty in working class households

Review Article: Household Finances Under Pressure: What is the Role of Social Policy?

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