Advancing the Understanding of Everyday Financial Risk through Intersectionality

In many countries, the extent financial risk faced by people in their everyday life is increasing, as public welfare systems are rolled back with individuals expected to manage shocks such as unemployment, ill health, and retirement through financial products, including insurance plans, pension schemes, mortgages and investments. The management of these products necessitates not just the availability of significant funds to build a portfolio of protection but also a sophisticated understanding of how products work, amid a landscape of choices. There is a growing awareness that the increasing responsibility to manage financial risk leads to unequal outcomes, yet the intersectional dimensions of who is exposed to financial risk in their everyday lives, and the consequences of this exposure, remain underexplored. To provide novel insights into intersectionality within everyday finance, the project seeks to bring together scholars from diverse disciplines who examine different elements of financial risk, such as gender, race and socio-economic status. In line with ISRF’s goal, the interdisciplinary nature of the network is key to advancing the understanding of intersectional experiences and consequences of financialization. The main project deliverables are a 2-day workshop on these topics, culminating in a special issue and policy brief, and launching a network which will continue this work. To foster knowledge creation on the intersectional dimensions of financial risk, the long-term aims of the project are: (1) to establish an interdisciplinary network of scholars exploring the intersectional dimensions of everyday finance, (2) to support the dissemination of knowledge outside of the network, building visibility of this research amongst broader research communities.