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  • Indebted-entanglements

Indebted entanglements: debt as the 'new normal'

This project gathers the experiences and feelings of people under forty years old who are in, or have been in, some form of debt. Their narratives will be used to examine the changing social, economic and cultural role of debt in today’s economic climate. The research project rejects the popular notion that personal debt is a result of individual financial mismanagement or irresponsible lifestyles. Instead, it takes as its starting point the premise that debt has become a normal part of life as wages have stagnated and living costs inflated.

Using depth interviews, research participants will be interviewed about the aspects of their lives that relate to their debt, such as work, housing, family, relationships and education. All participants have had some experience of debt, whether this comes in the form of student loans, credit cards, mortgages, overdrafts, bank loans, bankruptcy, payday loans or lending agreements made within the family. They might see their debt as a problem, but they might not. The size of the debt does not matter.

Slavery_Debt

Project timeframe

The project ran from January 2016 to August 2016.

This project was funded by the University of Brighton Rising Stars programme.

Project aims

The shrinking of the welfare state, the liberalisation of credit markets, the privatisation of higher education and the increasing precariousness of employment have all contributed to a new reality in which personal debt - including the struggle to stay out of it - has become a normal part of life for many. By exploring human responses to this change, we hope we can contribute to building a deeper understanding of modern debt and the ways in which it is likely to have an impact on inequality, social structures and health in future.

 

Project findings and impact

To follow on completion of the project.

Research team

Dr Leila Dawney

Rosie Walker

Output

To follow on completion of the project

 

Partners

None

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