Financialisation of everyday life in the Global South – A study about low-income Brazilian workers

Financialisation of everyday life has spread to the Global South. However, most of the current literature focuses on the daily lives in the Global North or the financial relationship between the Global North and South, such as through international remittances. Yet, Global South countries have their own path of financialisation, particularly upper-middle-income countries with well-developed local financial systems. At the same time, individuals in these countries might still face further socio-economic constraints, such as considerable labour market informality and inadequate social protection systems. This article contributes to the debate on the financialisation of everyday life using Brazil as a case study. Based on semi-structured interviews with 30 participants, we analyse the experiences and perceptions of low-income individuals. We find that low-income workers in Brazil are often unable to save, are less likely to use formal financial services, and are often over-indebted to cover immediate basic needs, such as food and household bills. Thus, instead of reducing poverty, financial inclusion policies have led to the widespread everyday financialisation of low-income workers.