Fictions of Financialization

Fictions of Financialization is praised as 'Incisive, politically engaged, and theoretically sophisticated' by Ilias Alami, the author of Money Power and Financial Capital in Emerging Markets.

For decades, many on the left have decried the finance sector as the main culprit for the toxic effects of capitalism. The prevailing narrative suggests that only by confronting finance can there be any hope for a more sustainable economy.

Nick Bernards challenges the dominance of this narrative. Arguing that the concept of financialization is ill-understood, Bernards shows how we risk overlooking the true nature of capitalism when we focus solely on the mythical powers of finance.

Instead of indulging in the harmful fantasy that confronting the financial elite will fix the economy, Bernards offers an alternative approach. He starts with the premise that risk and speculation are central to the operation of all capital, not just characteristics of a distorted financial sector. This Marxist analysis of the interconnection between capitalism's uneven exploitation of labour and nature, and financial capital, lays the groundwork for a much-needed view of the real powers of finance.