Financial untouchability: a polysemic narrative of digital financial inclusion in Modi’s India

Ismail Erturk; Ghosh Indradeep; Kadambari Shah

doi:10.1080/17530350.2021.1927147

Financial untouchability: a polysemic narrative of digital financial inclusion in Modi’s India

Ismail Erturk, Ghosh Indradeep, Kadambari Shah

PMO Management and Organisation Studies

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Abstract

India’s post-GFC digital financial inclusion project has been conveyed by an officially constructed polysemic narrative that connotes three distinctive semantic fields: a) post-colonial Indian developmental policies; b) post-GFC financialising neoliberal financial inclusion programmes; and c) traditional Hindu religious values of money and wealth. By assembling a semiological conceptual toolbox from the works of Barthes, Eco and Ricouer we analyse this specific phenomenon of polysemy in India’s financial inclusion narrative. Based on our findings we develop an argument for a connotative approach to economic discourses as a possible alternative to metonymic understanding of the relationship between language and things in studying markets, economy, and neoliberal policies.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	30-51
Number of pages	22
Journal	Journal of Cultural Economy
Volume	15
Issue number	1
Early online date	15 Jun 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/17530350.2021.1927147
Publication status	Published - 1 Jan 2022

Keywords

financial inclusion; narratives; semiology; India; digital financialization

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1080/17530350.2021.1927147Licence: Unspecified

Erturk et al 2021 Financial Untouchables JCE AAMAccepted author manuscript, 908 KBLicence: Other

2 Other contribution
1 Chapter
1 Article

Credit Union Vulnerabilities in the Financial System: An Analysis and How to Respond
Erturk, I., 26 Jan 2022, 37 p. Dublin, Ireland : Swoboda Research Centre.
Research output: Other contribution › peer-review

Open Access
File
Building Digital Finance in Europe: FinTech for Social Value
Erturk, I. & Zammit-Lucia, J., 1 Dec 2020, 36 p. Amsterdam : Radix Centre for Business, Politics and Society.
Research output: Other contribution

Open Access
File
Financial citizenship and nation-building in Malaysia: elites' and citizens' perspectives
Abdul Rahman, S., Erturk, I. & Froud, J., 3 Apr 2019, In: Journal of Economic Geography. 20, 1, p. 225–248
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Open Access
File
211 Downloads (Pure)

Cite this

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title = "Financial untouchability: a polysemic narrative of digital financial inclusion in Modi{\textquoteright}s India",

abstract = "India{\textquoteright}s post-GFC digital financial inclusion project has been conveyed by an officially constructed polysemic narrative that connotes three distinctive semantic fields: a) post-colonial Indian developmental policies; b) post-GFC financialising neoliberal financial inclusion programmes; and c) traditional Hindu religious values of money and wealth. By assembling a semiological conceptual toolbox from the works of Barthes, Eco and Ricouer we analyse this specific phenomenon of polysemy in India{\textquoteright}s financial inclusion narrative. Based on our findings we develop an argument for a connotative approach to economic discourses as a possible alternative to metonymic understanding of the relationship between language and things in studying markets, economy, and neoliberal policies. ",

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AU - Shah, Kadambari

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Financial untouchability: a polysemic narrative of digital financial inclusion in Modi’s India

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Research output

Credit Union Vulnerabilities in the Financial System: An Analysis and How to Respond

Building Digital Finance in Europe: FinTech for Social Value

Financial citizenship and nation-building in Malaysia: elites' and citizens' perspectives

Cite this