Gazing into the Abyss of Indebted Society: The Social Power of Money and Debt

Abstract

Ever larger parts of life and nature are integrated in our socio-economic system as future cash flows, augmenting obscure, unstable and unsustainable debt structures. The larger and deeper these debt structures grow, the larger, more multifaceted and destructive the inequality divide in our societies becomes. It is now normal for people to live indebted, as it is normal for young students to have their future monetised through student loans, the debt implications of which may never escape. What forces normalise these abnormal and unsustainable patterns and our rather admissive/submissive response to them? How our lives and future have been monetised and where have our social consent and agency been in these processes? Is there a way out, before crossing the boundary of social sustainability and environmental collapse? The three books examined here offer refreshing and complementary perspectives on these ‘big questions’ on which our monetised future depends.

Di Muzio T and Robbins RH (2016) Debt as Power. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Lazzarato M (2015) Governing by Debt. South Pasadena, CA: Semiotext(e).

Soederberg S (2014) Debtfare States and the Poverty Industry: Money, Discipline and the Surplus Population. London: Routledge.

Keywords

debt debtfare financialisation money creation social studies of finance

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