Financialised inclusion? Early-Career Researcher Masterclass on the Critical Understanding of Personal Finance within Global Financial Markets

The Open University in London, 1-11 Hawley Crescent, Camden Town, London, NW1 8NP

Enhancing access to formal financial services - i.e. transactions, payments, savings, credit and insurance - and providing appropriate financial education has become an important policy agenda in high-income countries and emerging economies alike. Such financial inclusion is argued to lift low-income and disadvantaged individuals from poverty and promote economic growth. But rising wealth inequality and the recent financial crisis revealed that increasing financial commitments of households threaten financial stability and economic prosperity in the context of a deregulated and profit-oriented financial sector. The aim of this masterclass is to rethink the evidence and examine the sustainability of financial inclusion policies, as well as to consider alternative practices to combat poverty, inequality, and promote growth under current institutional structures of globalised financial markets.

The event is open to PhD students and Early-Career Researchers whose work relates to the topics of finance, economic stability, poverty, distribution, and development. Alongside lectures from distinguished speakers, there will be an interactive research session, where participants will break out into roundtables to discuss how their own research informs the debates discussed in the lectures, and will work towards producing a list of policy action points and issues for further research. By sharing experiences, learning from top experts in the field, and taking part in the interactive research session, participants will develop their research and professional skills, and will be invited to submit their work to the Innovation, Knowledge and Development Research Centre Working Paper Series.

Speakers include: Sharon Collard (University of Bristol and Financial Inclusion Commission), Gary Dymski (University of Leeds) and Jonquil Lowe (The Open University)

Programme for the day

9.45 – 10.00 Arrival & Coffee

10.00 – 11.15 Master class 1

Jonquil Lowe, The Open University: Financial capability: evolving

solution or comfortable illusion?

11.15 – 11.30 Coffee break

11.30 – 12.45 Master class 2

Gary Dymski, University of Leeds: Beyond Financial Exclusion: Inequality,

Access, and Financial Structure after the Subprime Crisis

12.45 – 13.45 Lunch break

13.45 – 15.15 Interactive research session

15.15 – 15.30 Coffee break

15.30 – 16.45 Master class 3

Sharon Collard, University of Bristol and Financial Inclusion

Commission: Financial Inclusion – looking backwards, learning forwards

16.45 – 17.00 Closing remarks and introduction to IKD Working Paper Series

To find out more, please email IKD-Enquiries@open.ac.uk. The event is free with lunch and refreshments provided. We are offering 15 bursaries of £40 on a first come first serve basis to contribute towards travel expenses for doctoral students.

This event is jointly organised by International Knowledge Development and Open Political Economy Group.