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Research Seminar in Sociology of Law with Laura Sarasoja
The Sociology of Law Department arranges a series of research seminars inviting local and international social scientists to present state-of-the-art research within various areas of law and society.
Vulnerable, irrational, but held responsible? Indebted consumer subjectivities in Finland
Within financialized societies of stagnating wages, limited welfare, and ever-emerging crises, forms of credit have become a central way to manage everyday life. By applying socio-legal research approaches and critical literature on the financialization of everyday life, the thesis investigates how consumer finance regulation contributes to governing the possibilities, risks, and responsibilities of individuals in neoliberal societies. Inspired by discussions on "variegated neoliberalism" and "neoliberal legality," neoliberalism is understood as contextually and relationally formulated and as much a juridical as an economic and political process. The qualitative analysis of institutional discourses on consumer finance and over-indebtedness in Finland forms the core of the thesis. In more detail, the thesis explores how indebted subjectivities are constructed within various legislative and judicial forums. The overarching aim of the dissertation is to critically analyse these multiple constructed subjectivities while illustrating their discursive and material effects on financialized individuals.
Laura Sarasoja is a Doctoral Researcher in the Institute of Criminology and Legal Policy at the University of Helsinki, Finland. Her research interests are in the financialization of everyday life, responsibilization, and epistemic and economic vulnerabilities.
Om evenemanget
Plats:
Room 331, 3rd floor, House M, Allhelgona kyrkogata 18, Lund
Kontakt:
ida [dot] nafstad [at] soclaw [dot] lu [dot] se