Negotiating debts and gifts: financialization policies and the economic experiences of low-income social groups in Brazil

Abstract

Over the last decade, the supply of credit and other financial services reached various sectors of the Brazilian population that had previously been marginal to these markets. Through a study of how members of these segments experience so-called "financial inclusion," it becomes evident that while it implies submission to rules, procedures and calculations determined by market-based rationales and moralities, the use of these financial resources and tools does not lead to the prevalence of these principles in the economic experience of their users. In everyday life, these principles are combined with and even subordinated to others (gifts, selflessness) in situations of confrontation and negotiation that involve individuals, groups, networks (family, neighbourhood groups, cohabitation) as well as the state and the financial institutions themselves.