Financializing the poor: ‘dead capital’, women’s gold and microfinance in Pakistan

Abstract

This study examines how Pakistani microfinance banks’ (MFBs) collateralized microcredit arrangements take advantage of the cultural centrality of gold in women’s lives. In so doing, it contributes to the wider debate on financial inclusion and financialization. The product, processes and narratives examined are a local manifestation of global finance’s emphasis on engaging commercially viable means to bring previously ‘unbanked’ populations within its fold. Based on fieldwork in Lahore and Karachi, two of Pakistan’s largest cities, this paper highlights how the ‘financial inclusion’ agenda of microfinance has effectively financialized the lives of poor Pakistani women. Our analysis finds that Pakistani MFBs draw on patriarchy’s hierarchical norms and the precariousness of low-income living in ways which bolster their own financial positions. This is supported by the country’s central bank, which has granted collateralized microfinance products a ‘risk-free’ rating, easing the path to the financialization of jewellery which in a South Asian context is directly associated with women’s social standing and economic security. The outcome is a deepening of deep-seated vulnerabilities.