Consumer Credit as an Aspect of Everyday Life of Workers in Developing Countries: Evidence from Turkey

Karacimen E.

REVIEW OF RADICAL POLITICAL ECONOMICS, cilt.48, sa.2, ss.252-268, 2016 (SSCI) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 48 Sayı: 2
  • Basım Tarihi: 2016
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1177/0486613415591806
  • Dergi Adı: REVIEW OF RADICAL POLITICAL ECONOMICS
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.252-268
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: consumer credit, workers, Turkey, banking, borrower-lender relationship, D14, G00, J01, DOMESTIC LABOR
  • Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

This paper addresses the question of how consumer credit has become a part of daily life of wage earners in the age of financialization by drawing on the experience of Turkey. Given the dearth of information in this area, it draws on fieldwork conducted among metal workers. In particular, the paper analyzes how consumer credit has become a part of daily life of workers, driven by socio-economic and institutional factors. The results show that consumer debt in Turkey has become a part of the daily life of workers as a consequence of, first, growing dependence on debt to support basic reproduction of labor power, and second, of the banks' increasing orientation towards consumer lending. These findings also signal the deepening of the already unequal power relation between banks and wage earners.