Consumer Financial Education as a Novel Edu-Regulatory Technique

Abstract

“Consumer financial education as a novel edu-regulatory technique” maps out academic literature on sociology of indicators, social studies of finance and legal scholarship on financial literacy education. Borrowing insights and observations from this literature, the chapter introduces two novel, conceptual frameworks that are used throughout the book to examine the financial education project. The concept of “edu-regulation” is developed to analyse and consider a distinct, legal regime designed in the UK to govern consumer behaviour and consumer markets through the use of information, education and advice. The concept of edu-regulation emerged as a result of careful and detailed scrutiny of different financial education programmes rolled out in the UK. It helps to theorise various financial education programmes adopted by the UK’s policy makers and financial regulators with an aim to police and regulate household financial decision-making. The chapter’s key argument is that these edu-regulatory policies and programmes are used to expand consumer access to financial information, financial education and financial advice. Naming this process “the democratisation of financial knowledge”, the chapter introduces another conceptual framework. The democratisation of financial knowledge as a concept is used in the book to theorise ever greater broadening, deepening, and expansion of consumer access to financial knowledge. This conclusion is of particular importance since the key aim of this concept is to shift the academic debate on and analysis of financial literacy education from access to finance to one on access to financial knowledge. This concept provides analytical space to interrogate and question the neutrality, universality and objectivity of financial knowledge. It provides a means to question the ways in which financial knowledge participates in governance of consumer financial markets.It is suggested in this chapter that the project on consumer financial education aims to democratise consumer access to highly restrictive and problematic financial knowledge. Various financial education programmes and policies do not develop and facilitate access to all kinds of financial knowledge. Instead, the financial education project builds access to financial information, financial education and financial advice largely oriented towards consumer activation and integration in financial markets.