Focusing on the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States of America (US) in the period since the mid-1990s, this thesis analyses the changes in retail financial markets and associated questions of financial democratisation, financial inclusion and exclusion. Specifically, it concentrates on the rise and crisis in the subprime sector of mortgages and consumer credit markets which targeted borrowers who had previously been excluded on a range of grounds. The analysis offered situates these changes and developments in the financialisation of economic life; processes understood as produced through three co-constitutive forces: financialised accumulation, financialised risk management, and financialised discipline. Together, the financialisation of accumulation, risk management and discipline are shown to have driven forward changes in retail finance in general and the rise of subprime in particular, apparently furthering financial inclusion and enabling homeownership. However, experiences of financial inclusion are shown to have been ambiguous, marked by increased levels of indebtedness and rates of interest higher than those prevailing in mainstream markets. Moreover, the forces of financialisation are also shown to have contained contradictions and tensions that were crucial to the crisis in the subprime sector. The crisis, then, is held to raise yet further analytical and policy questions about the problems and prospects of market-led financial inclusion. Ultimately, the thesis argues that unless policymakers support and re-start a closely regulated subprime sector, stark exclusion will characterise post-crisis financialised economic life in the UK and US.

Socially produced risks – ranging from financial crises to climate change – are of fundamental importance to contemporary economic, political, and social life. Given the central importance of these risks, the development of frameworks that analyze the relation between risk, power, and inequality is a key task for sociology. Ulrich Beck’s theory of risk society is a leading and powerful framework for analyzing the growing social production and distribution of risk, but it has fundamental problems in its understanding of the relation between risk and class. Beck has argued that class relations will be dissolved due to the increasingly equal and catastrophic nature of risks, while, in response, his critics have shown that increasing risk does not undermine class. This thesis explores the important, but as yet unasked, question: if class does continue to be a central factor, will it become even more important due to the changes associated with risk society? In pursuing this question, this study shows how the theory of risk society has conceptual resources and explanatory implications that both Beck and his critics have misapprehended. Firstly, it is argued that the processes associated with risk society tend to exacerbate class inequalities rather than simply dissolving or reproducing them. Secondly, it its argued that the theory of risk society is not antithetical to class analysis, but can actually make an important contribution to theorizing the dynamics of existing class relations. By analyzing how the distribution of environmental bads and the social production and distribution of financial risk tend to intensify class inequalities, this thesis substantiates this re-theorization of risk society and class. It thereby makes a fundamental intervention into contemporary understandings of the relation between risk, inequality, and power in the twenty-first century. / Thesis (Ph.D, Sociology) -- Queen's University, 2013-08-26 11:44:32.979

Although there is an increasing interest in social sciences amongst policy makers in financial services and investment organisations, not enough is known about the way financial organisations and activities interact with their social environments. In particular, there is a need for more research into the way financial activities are integrated into broader social structures. This thesis will report on a comparative study analysing the practices of financial organisations and their employees in two very different social environments: the UK and Chile. From 38 in-depth interviews with financial practitioners in London, Edinburgh and Santiago de Chile about their job trajectories and experiences, it was possible to analyse the practices of financial organisations in the UK and Chile, with an emphasis on the way they interact with global financial trends and local distributions of power and resources. A sociological account of organisational processes such as recruitment, socialisation, staff allocation, promotion and organisation of work within firms in these countries allowed for description and analysis of the way firms’ practices are related to their social (structural, symbolic and institutional) contexts. The research shows that Chile’s position in the global financial market and local distribution of resources encourage more traditional organisational practices, especially in terms of recruitment, socialisation, staff allocation and promotion, as well as activities performed and the way services are provided. In the UK, on the other hand, all of the above-mentioned processes are more technical, formally designed and competitive.

Cette thèse explore les antécédents et conséquences de l'illégitimité organisationnelle. Comment l'illégitimité organisationnelle émerge-t-elle? Pourquoi persiste-t-elle? En utilisant une approche fondée sur les logiques institutionnelles, j'étudie la matérialisation d'une catégorie stigmatisée, et comment la variance en termes de désapprobation au sein de cette catégorie peut signaler une certaine proximité vis-à-vis d'une logique de champ, et se révéler bénéfique.Les enjeux que représentent les transferts et manipulations de l'illégitimité favorisent l'apparition d'échanges sociaux dans lesquels les acteurs se rejettent la faute.Ces questions sont étudiées empiriquement dans le contexte de l'industrie de la banque d'investissement aux Etats-Unis dans la période d'après crise, à partir de 2007. Plus particulièrement, j'observe la perception de cette industrie dans la presse écrite. Ce travail de recherche révèle la nature stratégique des évaluations sociales négatives et délivre des enseignements pour la gestion de l'image de l'entreprise et les politiques publiques / This dissertation explores the antecedents and outcomes of organizational illegitimacy. How do organizational illegitimacy emerge? Why does it persist? Using an institutional logis perspective, I investigate the materialization of a stigmatized category, and how variance in disapproval within this category can signal proximity to a field-level logic and yield beneficial outcomes.The stakes of transferring and manipulating illegitimacy set the stage for blame games at the field of organizational level. These questions are examined in the empirical context of the US investment banking industry in the aftermath of the 2007 crisis. I focus in particular on its perception in print media. This work sheds light on the strategic nature of negative social evaluations, and provides implications for corporate image management and policy practice

Submitted by Aelson Maciera (aelsoncm@terra.com.br) on 2017-06-28T17:45:53Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DissMJC.pdf: 1541185 bytes, checksum: 3fa203422d4033cde096ed3d4ebe4543 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ronildo Prado (ronisp@ufscar.br) on 2017-08-03T19:16:31Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DissMJC.pdf: 1541185 bytes, checksum: 3fa203422d4033cde096ed3d4ebe4543 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ronildo Prado (ronisp@ufscar.br) on 2017-08-03T19:16:40Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DissMJC.pdf: 1541185 bytes, checksum: 3fa203422d4033cde096ed3d4ebe4543 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-08-03T19:22:27Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DissMJC.pdf: 1541185 bytes, checksum: 3fa203422d4033cde096ed3d4ebe4543 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-02-17 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / The automotive industry undergoes an increasing process of financialization. Financialization has been considered as the preference for capital appreciation through financial activities more than through productive activities. There is, in this process, a tendency for capital to appreciate through activities that do not need to go through production or take place after the production itself. In addition, the sector has become the object of acquisitions and increased participation of banks, investment funds and financial institutions in their property rights. In this way, there is enormous pressure from senior executives and shareholders for an ever-greater return on investment. This maximization of shareholder value has become a recurrent practice for the automakers, where the pursuit of profit reaches 12, 15% of profitability on capital employed, yearly, through financial activities rather than in the mature and cyclical market for automotive products, historically performed poorly and narrow profit margins. It is only through the intensification of financial activities such as leasing, financing and other "products" launched by its subsidiaries that the automakers have achieved the profitability required by shareholders and controllers. In order to make this research feasible, a multi-case study was used to select the five largest automotive companies worldwide, according to data from the International Organization of Automobile Manufacturers, OICA. The top five automakers in 2014 were Toyota, Volkswagen, GM, Hyundai and Ford. In order to analyze financialization, five component categories of this process were investigated, such as: proportion of the profit coming from the finances compared to the profit obtained by the real production; shareholding composition of companies; stock acquisitions; origin of corporate officers; payment of dividends to shareholders, as well as compensation to executives, workers' wages and employment. The central idea of this work is that financialization is one of the main economic characteristic of contemporary capitalism. We hoped, with this work, to contribute to the research agenda of Economic Sociology, current that defends the unification of the various social sciences in the explanation of economic phenomena. In this sense, we were able to know in a broader way the process of financialization of the automotive industry, one of the largest and most important industrial sectors of the economy. / O setor automotivo passa por um processo crescente de financeirização. A financeirização vem sendo considerada como a preferência pela valorização do capital por meio das atividades financeiras mais do que pelas atividades produtivas. Há, nesse processo, uma tendência de que o capital se valorize por meio de atividades que não necessitem passar pela produção ou que acontecem depois da produção propriamente dita. Além disso, o setor vem se tornando objeto de aquisições e do aumento da participação dos bancos, fundos de investimento e instituições de tipo financeiro em seus direitos de propriedade. Desse modo, há enormes pressões por parte dos altos executivos e dos acionistas para que haja cada vez maior retorno aos investimentos. Esta maximização do valor ao acionista tornou-se uma prática recorrente para as montadoras, onde a busca pelo lucro chega a 12, 15% de rentabilidade sobre o capital empregado, anualmente, através de atividades financeiras e não no maduro e cíclico mercado de produtos automotivos, historicamente um setor de fraco desempenho e estreitas margens de lucro. Ocorre que só por meio da intensificação das atividades financeiras como leasing, financiamentos e outros “produtos” lançados por suas subsidiárias que as montadoras tem conseguido a lucratividade requerida pelos acionistas e controladores. Para viabilizar essa pesquisa, foi utilizado o estudo de multi-caso para selecionar as cinco maiores empresas automotivas mundiais, quanto ao volume de produção, segundo os dados da Organização Internacional dos Construtores de Automóveis, OICA. As cinco maiores montadoras em 2014 foram Toyota, Volkswagen, GM, Hyundai e Ford. Para analisar a financeirização, cinco categorias componentes desse processo foram investigadas, tais como: proporção do lucro advindo das finanças em comparação com o lucro obtido pela produção real; composição acionária das empresas; aquisições acionárias; origem dos dirigentes das empresas e pagamento de dividendos aos acionistas, além das compensações aos executivos, os salários dos trabalhadores e o emprego. A ideia central desse trabalho é que a financeirização é a característica econômica que mais tem marcado o capitalismo contemporâneo. Esperou-se, com esse trabalho, contribuir com a agenda de pesquisa da Sociologia Econômica, corrente que defende a unificação das várias ciências sociais na explicação dos fenômenos econômicos. Desta maneira pudemos conhecer de modo mais amplo o processo de financeirização do setor automotivo, um dos maiores e mais importantes setores industriais da economia.

Cette recherche prend pour objet l’Union bancaire, à savoir la principale réforme des institutions de l’Union européenne souhaitée par les chefs d’État et de gouvernement en réponse à la crise financière de 2008. La réforme confie notamment à la Banque centrale européenne la charge de superviser les banques de la zone euro à partir de novembre 2014. À la croisée d’une sociologie de la finance en discussion avec une sociologie des sciences et des techniques, et d’une sociologie politique attentive aux instruments d’action publique, la thèse propose d’analyser les nouvelles pratiques de supervision comme un problème de gouvernement au sens de Michel Foucault. Elle décrit ainsi l’Union bancaire comme un agencement institutionnel, à savoir un assemblage d’acteurs, de pratiques de vérification et de dispositifs de contrôle, au sein duquel s’invente une forme inédite d’intervention. Cet agencement produit une expertise européenne centralisée sur un territoire de gouvernement. Sur celui-ci, la problématisation de la bonne conduite des établissements vise à garantir un devenir pérenne des actifs des investisseurs, sans agir de façon dirigiste sur les flux financiers. Les autorités de supervision des États prenant part à l’agencement sont en charge de relayer les décisions collectivement actées à Francfort sur leurs banques considérées comme nationales. La thèse contribue aux débats académiques contemporains relatifs à la finance et à la construction européenne, en rendant visibles par l’enquête les effets d’une action publique tournée vers le problème de la gestion de l’investissement en Europe. Elle permet notamment de saisir la recomposition des souverainetés étatiques en matière de politique bancaire qui, loin de s’effacer, jouent un rôle décisif dans la constitution du territoire étudié. Les développements sont élaborés à partir d’une enquête qualitative, incluant une ethnographie de l’Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution (ACPR), une campagne d’entretiens et une analyse documentaire. / This research is focused on the Banking Union, the main reform of the European Union's institutions called for by the Heads of State and Government in response to the 2008 financial crisis. This reform entrusts the European Central Bank in particular with the task of supervising banks in the euro zone from November 2014. At the crossroads of a sociology of finance in discussion with a sociology of science and technology studies, and a political sociology, the thesis proposes to analyse new supervisory practices as a problem of government in the sense defined by Michel Foucault. The Banking Union is portrayed as an institutional arrangement, namely an assemblage of actors, auditing practices and control devices, at the heart of which a new form of intervention is invented. The purpose of this arrangement is to produce a centralized European expertise on a developing territory of government. In this territory, the problematization of good banking conduct aims at ensuring a sustainable future for investors' assets without acting on the financial flows in a constraining way. The supervisory authorities of the states involved in the arrangement are now in charge of applying the decisions made collectively in Frankfurt about banks still considered as national. Through this inquiry, the thesis contributes to contemporary debates on finance and on the European construction by enlightening the effects of public policies geared towards the issue of investment management in Europe. It especially improves our understanding of the reshaping of national sovereignties in banking policies, and shows that far from disappearing, those play a decisive role in the constitution of the territory studied. Developments are based on a qualitative inquiry, including an ethnography of the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution (ACPR), an interview campaign and a documentary analysis.

Engagée à l’occasion de l’introduction en France de contrats de commande publique de type "partenariat public-privé" [PPP] – elle fut initiée peu après la promulgation de l’Ordonnance du 17 juin 2004 créant les « Contrats de Partenariat » – notre recherche explore les PPP, modalités de commande publique complexe à caractéristiques financières, en tant qu’ils constituent un marché émergent pour des acteurs financiers, fournisseurs de capitaux et de techniques de financement, potentiellement porteurs de valeurs, modes de raisonnement, et logiques économiques, exogènes au monde de la commande publique. Aiguillonné par notre désir de participer aux débats disciplinaires des mondes de la sociologie économique, des études sociales de la finance, et d’autres approches hétérodoxes des phénomènes économiques, par notre souci de contribuer à la compréhension des formes d’organisation des services publics et des infrastructures urbaines, stimulé également par notre curiosité à l’égard des mutations des économies occidentales, interpellé évidemment par l’actualité incontournable de la grande crise financière, puis économique, entamée en 2007-08, notre travail prend prétexte de ce "phénomène" – l’immixtion, par l’entremise des PPP, de nouveaux acteurs financiers dans une partie de la commande publique de grands équipements – pour nous inscrire dans le programme de recherche qui vise à caractériser le mouvement socio-économique plus large parfois qualifié de "financiarisation". Ce terme recouvre, sans grande précision ni définition consacrée et indiscutable, un ensemble d’évolutions liées à l’extension du domaine de la finance, que ce soit au niveau macroéconomique, sectoriel, ou cognitif, dans l’ordre de la connexion de pans entiers de la vie économique et sociale aux "marchés" financiers et à leurs exigences. Notre ambition est donc, à partir d’un sujet particulier et technique, non réductible à sa seule dimension financière4, de considérer la valeur heuristique du cas des PPP pour interroger plusieurs dimensions caractéristiques de ce mouvement de "financiarisation" – voire essayer d’en identifier les principaux éléments constitutifs. Ce dessein passe par une analyse en termes de sociologie économique menée à plusieurs niveaux / Committed (Hired) on the occasion of the introduction in France of contracts of state commission of type(chap) "Public Private Partnership" [ PPP] - She (it) was introduced shortly after the promulgation of the Prescription of June 17th, 2004 creating "Partnership agreements" - our search (research) explores the PPP, the modalities(methods) of complex state commission with financial characteristics, as they establish (constitute) an emerging market for financial actors, suppliers of capital and techniques of financing, potentially valuable carriers, ways of reasoning, and economic, exogenous logics to the world of the state commission