Apologies for cross-postings...
Consuming the Social Economy: Combating Financial Inclusion
A Cross-Disciplinary One-Day Symposium hosted by Community Finance Solutions
at the University of Salford on Friday 15 October 2004.
Purpose and issues
Recent years have seen a massive expansion in the provision of financial
services available to enterprises and individuals. However, some segments
of society have been excluded from this process. The predominant response
of government has been to promote responses from the social economy. This
event explores these interventions from the perspective of the potential
consumer and the social economy delivery agent. Additionally it will seek
to explore underlining issues regarding:
How financial services are consumed by different groups (household, the
firm, urban/rural, ethnic groups, & gender)
What are the limits of rational choice and commodification in financial
decisions?
Are social economy interventions perceived as second-class brands by
consumers?
Whether the state's responses in this area can be described as the
privatisation of social policy?
Can social economy agents deliver financial inclusion and contribute to
social capital within a community?
Background
With the liberalisation of financial services there has been exponential
growth in provision, culminating in record levels of personal indebtedeness
in Britain. Alongside the expansion concern has grown about those excluded
from this process. In the late 1990s considerable empirical research was
carried out on financial exclusion. Outside the UK, and particularly in the
developing world, financial services for low-income people without security
has been a powerful instrument for poverty reduction in many low- and
middle- income countries. In Britain policy think tanks, such as the New
Economics Foundation have argued that Community Development Financial
Institutions may provide a means of tackling financial exclusion and
improving business creation in deprived areas. In response, policy
initiatives have included the promotion of credit unions, the publication of
reports by the social exclusion unit extolling the virtues of social economy
interventions), and the development of new models of community finance.
However, while there has been rhetorical endorsement and claims made about
the positive impact of community finance initiatives, there has been limited
academic assessment of its impact on potential users, what this indicates
about the supply of financial services, and the use by government of the
social economy to deliver social policy objectives.
Quite separately to these developments research on the provision and
consumption of credit has tended to be dominated by investigation informed
by rational choice models of human behaviour or by broader consideration of
overall patterns of debt and how they relate to a variety of social
characteristics or social locations. In many fields such models are now
increasingly discredited. In particular, American social science has led the
way in bringing attention to more intangible aspects of everyday and
community life that impact on life chances. Such work on social capital and
trust has been influential in pointing to the importance of the non-economic
in community life and well being. However, it has been criticised from at
least two directions as in the first instance neglecting the importance of
finance and economics and second, omitting consideration of the details of
everyday cultural and social interaction. What is missing is any
understanding of the connections between the structural changes in financial
services and the cultures of consumption, particularly among excluded
communities.
As a cross-disciplinary event Salford University is inviting contributions
from academics interested in issues of consumption, financial services, the
social economy, social capital, and social policy. We hope to secure
proposals from sociologists, economists, political scientists, marketers,
and management specialists.
On the day presentations will be limited to 20 minutes and it is hoped to
publish the papers. It is intended that one outcome is the creation of a
cross-disciplinary research group examining the consumption of financial
services.
PROGRAMME
10.00am Welcome and Introduction
10.10am Dr Paul Jones (Liverpool John Moores University)
'On Credit Unions'
10.35am Professor Paul Mosely (University of Sheffield)
'About CDFIs'
11.15am Tea/ Coffee
11.30am Dr Duncan Fuller (University of Northumbria)
'What type of services do deprived communities want?'
11.55am Dr Jane Midgely (University of Newcastle)
What type of services are wanted in rural areas?
12.20pm Dr Karl Dayson (University of Salford)
Do CFIs work?
13.00pm Lunch
14.00pm OPEN FORUM
Chair: Professor Brian Longhurst (University of
Salford)
Issues to include - what areas do we need/want to
research?
Is this forum worthwhile and if so how do we take it
forward
15.30pm Tea/ Coffee
16.00pm Conclusions
The symposium is open to all colleagues and postgraduates at the University
of Salford and to interested Academics and postgraduates elsewhere.
If you wish to attend this event, please contact Nicola Toole on
[log in to unmask] or 0161 295 5996 by Monday 11th October 2004.
Lunch and refreshments will be provided at no charge, but please provide
advance confirmation of attendance.
A campus map and further directions can be found at
www.salford.ac.uk/travel/campus.map
Organisers and contacts:
Dr Karl Dayson and Prof. Brian Longhurst
School of English, Sociology, Politics, and Contemporary History
Rm 214, Crescent House
University of Salford
The Crescent
Salford
M5 4WT
Tel: 0161 295 2827
Email: [log in to unmask]
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