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The Neoliberal Production of Deserving and Undeserving Poor: A Critique of the Australian Experience of Microfinance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 April 2019

Catherine Mackenzie  and
Jonathon Louth
Catherine Mackenzie*
Affiliation:
The Australian Alliance for Social Enterprise, UniSA Business School, University of South Australia E-mail: Catherine.Mackenzie@unisa.edu.au
Jonathon Louth
Affiliation:
The Australian Alliance for Social Enterprise, UniSA Business School, University of South Australia E-mail: Jonathon.Louth@unisa.edu.au
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Abstract

Neoliberalism as economic orthodoxy has facilitated the onset of social and public policy that is required to ‘fit’ with the common sense of our times. This article critiques the growth of government-supported financial capability programs in Australia. We explore the experiences of a sample of rural South Australians who have accessed microcredit. We found that microcredit provides an avenue for poverty survival by reducing the stresses associated with financial shocks through consumption smoothing, yet that the extent to which microcredit contributes to addressing poverty and inequality is questionable. We critique how the discourse of financial resilience aims to produce deserving neoliberal citizens who are moving toward self-reliance. We conclude that effort should be directed at developing a structural, proportionate universal approach that does not rely on financially vulnerable individuals navigating a regulatory environment that rewards and punishes in accordance to a market logic.

Keywords

Microfinanceneoliberalismwelfarefinancialisationfinancial resilience
Type
Articles
Information
Social Policy and Society , Volume 19 , Issue 1 , January 2020 , pp. 19 - 35
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2019 

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