Leiden University Scholarly Publications

Mader, P.; Mertens, D.; Zwan, N. van der (2020)

Financialization: An Introduction

Part of book or chapter of book

Financialization has become the go-to term for scholarship that studies the vastly expanded role of finance in contemporary politics, economy and society. The growth of financialization studies reflects the evident need for an analytical vocabulary that can capture these key empirical developments in contemporary capitalism. Since the 1990s, a variety of divergent conceptualizations of financialization have been offered, allowing financialization studies to prosper in a transdisciplinary way. Tracing the evolution of the field’s broad themes and reviewing its key definitions, we articulate what unites the diverse financialization scholarship and touch upon recent debates regarding the concept’s continued value. We suggest that three principles may guide conceptualizations of financialization going forward: being limited, mechanism-oriented, and contextual. Finally, we introduce and review the contributions to six parts of the Handbook of Financialization and conclude with a brief...Show moreFinancialization has become the go-to term for scholarship that studies the vastly expanded role of finance in contemporary politics, economy and society. The growth of financialization studies reflects the evident need for an analytical vocabulary that can capture these key empirical developments in contemporary capitalism. Since the 1990s, a variety of divergent conceptualizations of financialization have been offered, allowing financialization studies to prosper in a transdisciplinary way. Tracing the evolution of the field’s broad themes and reviewing its key definitions, we articulate what unites the diverse financialization scholarship and touch upon recent debates regarding the concept’s continued value. We suggest that three principles may guide conceptualizations of financialization going forward: being limited, mechanism-oriented, and contextual. Finally, we introduce and review the contributions to six parts of the Handbook of Financialization and conclude with a brief outlook for the field.Show less

All authors

Mader, P.; Mertens, D.; Zwan, N. van der

Date

2020-02-24

Title of host publication

The Routledge International Handbook of Financialization

Pages

1 - 16

ISBN (print)

9781138308213

ISBN (electronic)

9781315142876

DOI

doi:10.4324/9781315142876-1

Link

https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-International-Handbook-of-Financ...