The Violence of Financial Inclusion

The ascent of microfinance in India and its colonial roots on the oppression of subaltern classes through indebtedness.

Financial inclusion appears as a timely development policy. Ostensibly, providing poor households with access to credit and other financial services contributes to sustainable development and poverty alleviation. Anil Shah reveals the colonial roots of microfinance and how these paved the way for its rise in the present. Drawing on empirical field research, he demonstrates how financial inclusion is the latest incarnation of a class-based mode of dominating and exploiting subaltern classes on the Indian subcontinent through gendered and racialised indebtedness. As such, he offers a vital resource for researchers, students, and policymakers working in the field of development finance.