Financial Inclusion - Emerging Frontiers in the Global Economy by Tyler Girard Hardcover

Book Synopsis

The number of people in the world with a bank account or money service provider increased by 2 billion over the past decade. This phenomenon reflects what Tyler Girard calls the global financial inclusion agenda. This agenda emerged in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and quickly became a prominent feature of global economic governance. The core idea of financial inclusion is that all individuals and businesses should have access to and use formal financial services, including bank accounts, payment services, credit, and insurance. Today, the widespread ability to digitally store and transfer money has impacted every aspect of our lives. What explains the emergence and evolution of the global financial inclusion agenda? And what does the politics of the agenda tell us about the impacts of new technologies on global politics and how ideas become global agendas? Drawing on an original collection of primary documents and interviews with elites from Ghana, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Switzerland, this book traces the global financial inclusion agenda over time and interrogates its adaptation in specific contexts and issue areas. Through the concept of participatory ambiguity, Girard offers a novel explanation of the agenda that advances important debates in international relations and international political economy on the distribution of power and authority in global governance.

Review Quotes

"A convincing explanation of how financial inclusion has been embraced as a goal for a variety of private and public-sectorplayers around the globe. Tyler Girard argues that 'participatory ambiguity' has enabledad hoccoalitions--often among oddbedfellows--whose multilayered interactions have created networks that effectively manage the contradictions between development, economic security, fairness, and profit-making. This is a compelling and persuasive book."--William W. Grimes, Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University

"How did the financial inclusion agenda come about? How have actors, institutions, and new technologies such as fintech shaped this global agenda? What are its implications for the distribution of power and authority in global governance? Tyler Girard's book provides an illuminating analysis addressing these most vital questions of contemporary international political economy." --Saori N. Katada, University of Southern California

"How does an idea become a global agenda? Tyler Girard's systematic, empirically grounded examinationuncovers a messy, bottom-up process where a range of disparate actors, including those from the Global South, co-create a new global financial inclusion agenda. Vital reading for those interested in financial inclusion and scholars concerned with the broader relationship between ideas and policy."--Antoinette Handley, University of Toronto

About the Author

Tyler Girard is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Purdue University.