20. Financialization

The chapter on financialization commences with outlining the pertinent literature that deals with the term. An explanation of what makes the current phase of financialization different, as well as the features of financialization that have been observed in behaviour in Anglo-Saxon economies, is provided. An analysis of financialization trends in developing and emerging economies (DEEs) is presented. The chronological and thematic developments in the concept of financialization, emanating from research on Anglo-Saxon economies and societies, are reviewed. Financialization as a process impacts both firms as well as employees. More attention could be paid to the links between growing household financialization and the labour process. In terms of areas for further investigation, it is suggested that the links between growing housing financialization and the labour process be researched. As a key aspect of financialization is ‘everyday life’, the financialization of pension funds’ portfolios is a further topic for empirical exploration. How the use of financialization as a concept can be critiqued is specified. The debate on whether financialization represents a growth regime, or whether it is best understood as a set of ad hoc experiments, is evaluated. The chapter concludes by suggesting that future research in work and employee relations that draws on financialization could study the connections between non-standard employment and financialization, the financialization of daily life and labour as presently these are topics that have been given insufficient scholarly attention.