Contents and AbstractsIntroduction chapter abstract
The introduction opens with the story of Guillermo, a street book vendor from Buenos Aires who, after some reluctance, became interested in the world of financial self-help. By interpreting Guillermo's biography, this chapter sets up the main themes of the book and outlines its basic arguments and theories. It argues that financial self-help is an instance of the production of capitalist economic subjects in contemporary post-industrial societies, and brings together the literatures on governmentality and performativity to argue that financial self-help is a neoliberal technology of the self. The introduction also describes the author's journey into the worlds of financial self-help of New York and Argentina, the main settings and characters that will appear in the book, and the methods used to gather evidence.
1Contemporary Financial Self-Help and the Rise of Neoliberalism chapter abstractChapter 1 defines contemporary financial self-help and distinguishes it from two of its closest relatives: general self-help and "get rich quick" schemes. It then turns to the diagnosis provided by Robert Kiyosaki regarding the end of corporate capitalism and of job security. His main premise is that, as a result of inertia, people fail to understand that the mainstream mobility path anchored in institutions such as higher education and employment does not make sense in this day and age. Kiyosaki also provides a theory of the class structure of capitalist societies (called the Cashflow Quadrant) that associates certain objective positions (employee, self-employed, business owner, and investor) with distinct forms of subjectivity. He suggests that individuals should understand what their position is and plan to leave positions in which they work for their money and move to those in which they receive money from the work of others.
2It's Not About Money, It's About Freedom chapter abstractChapter 2 dissects the widely used concept of financial freedom. In a discourse with roots in libertarianism, readers are urged to combat their conformist dispositions engendered in the welfare era and resist the temptation of security in favor of a quest for freedom. They are exhorted to fight external dependence on institutions as well as their internal dependence on conformity and fear, and to essentially control their selves, in a discourse that echoes that used in the addiction recovery movement. The chapter provides four examples that illustrate the notion of financial freedom: first, the rejection of family education; second, the rejection of the school system; third, the rejection of gurus who advocate frugality as a means of social mobility; finally, financial self-help's discourse on gender, which ties financial self-help to a long tradition of technologies of the self that combat dependency in women.
3From Rats to Riches chapter abstractThis chapter looks at the Cashflow board game and its players. First, through the practice of Cashflow, players acquire definitions of what being rich means in the context of financial capitalism and establish financial freedom as a specific goal. Second, they develop calculative tools adjusted to the idea of financial freedom and incoming rent (called "passive income"). Third, players work on the self by playing the game. They see themselves "in action," and identify what must be modified in their selves in order to produce the subjectivity that will lead them to financial success. The chapter also scrutinizes the translation that participants perform in practice in order to fit what happens in the game with what they call "real life." Through this translation, players alter a game that is often misaligned with reality in order to make it usable, frequently modifying the rules and even creating new game cards.
4Creating a World of Abundance chapter abstractThis chapter engages with the moral order of the world of financial self-help. Although the ethics of financial self-help appear to be about pure self-interest, there is space for generosity and disinterest in economic gains. While pure economic self-interest is not acceptable, pure generosity is deemed suspicious. This conflation of interest and disinterest rests on the notion that pure disinterest is a sign of a yet unchanged "poor" self. The rich, in contrast, live in a world of abundance in which there is enough for everyone, and therefore, the dual aims of interest and generosity are not contradictory. Two topics that illustrate this non-contradictory character of interest and disinterest are examined. First is what users make of the fact that financial gurus live off their fans. Second, the chapter looks at an economic activity closely related to financial self-help: multilevel marketing (MLM) companies.
5American Dreams in Argentina chapter abstractThis chapter addresses the transnational circulation of financial self-help. Financial self-help is a global phenomenon with its epicenter in the United States. But a great deal of local work is needed to make idiosyncratic American products work in the starkly different contexts of developing countries. Users in Argentina actively try to adapt the theories and advice to their more vulnerable (and less wealthy) economy and financial system. For many people, a scenario of financial instability only makes financial intelligence more important. In the face of difficult conditions, Argentines make use of American resources by disentangling the theories from the concrete applications. Financial self-help groups assist users in this quest to apply American ideas to the Argentine context. These social networks are as important as the products themselves, because by trying to solve the problem of adaptability, they make the products exportable.
Conclusion: Financial Self-Help and Beyond chapter abstractThe conclusion returns to some of the theoretical and political issues discussed throughout the book and suggests connections between the world of financial self-help examined in this book and the growing attention to financial literacy and entrepreneurship in policies by governments, NGOs, financial institutions, and international agencies.
Methodological Appendix chapter abstractThe methodological appendix presents a reflection about the author's experience as an ethnographer in a world significantly different from his own. For a researcher, it is impossible not to go through some of the same anxieties and reflections that practices and discourses of financial self-help produce in genuine practitioners. Participants were people who shared ideas, performed practices, and constituted groups devoted to something that we all are somewhat forced to think about: our personal finances, our money, our jobs, and our retirements.
Daniel Fridman is Assistant Professor of Sociology and Latin American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.
"A refreshing and rigorous analysis of financial self-help that
gets to the heart of identity formation in neoliberalism. Fridman
has a keen eye for the 'personal' dimension of financialization and
its 'democratisation.' This is sociology at its best." -- Peter
Miller * London School of Economics *
"What explains the global appeal of financial self-help books?
Freedom from Work provides crucial insights. A gifted
observer, Fridman's ethnographic account uncovers a unique blend of
morality and economics in self-help groups pursuing their dream of
financial freedom. This book contributes to economic and cultural
sociology but will also fascinate general readers." -- Viviana A.
Zelizer, Lloyd Cotsen '50 Professor of Sociology * Princeton
University *
"A wonderful portrait of how financial technologies of the self
work in modern culture. In observing players of a financial board
game, Fridman effortlessly oscillates between rich ethnographic
description and serious analytical depth to dissect the painful
retooling that people perform in pursuit of an elusive 'freedom
from work.' " -- Marion Fourcade, University of California *
Berkeley *
"For those of us who escape gladly to our offices on Monday
morning, meanwhile, the promise of longer weekends isn't very
compelling. But the idea of starting a conversation about how we
distribute our time might be. The catch is that this conversation
itself needs and takes time. That's what's so interesting about
Freedom from Work's description of workers reading and
playing board games on the job: even if they don't get rich,
they've been reading and meeting to talk about books. " --
Christina Lupton * Public Books *
"The book is a lively and well-written account of ongoing cultural
transformations. Fridman is particularly clever in connecting
empirical facts with theoretical claims, and the book presents
several avenues for further reflection." -- Felipe Gonzlez *
Economic Sociology - The European Electronic Newsletter
*
"Based on careful ethnographic research, this book provides a
compelling account of how financial self-help followers aim to
change their economic thinking, adopt new practices and thereby
reach financial freedom...Any researcher interested in economic
sociology, neoliberal governmentality and the materiality of the
financial world should read [this book]. Further, this would be
good place to start for a reader interested in the reflexive
capacity of ethnographic research." -- Tomas Undurraga *
Estudios de la Economia *
"The greatest strength of Freedom from Work is its
fascinating case setting...[Fridman] writes respectfully and
carefully about his research subjects, even when their beliefs
appear illogical or bizarre. Such careful ethnographic and
interview work is admirable and makes for a crisp read...Fridman
provides a well-written exploration into a fascinating community of
persons whose enthusiastic support for neoliberalism adds important
variation to our understanding of how individuals respond to
shifting economic conditions. General readers curious about unique
financial cultures will enjoy the rich ethnographic description and
international case comparisons. And because the book documents
theories of governmentality and performativity in interesting and
unusual contexts, it will make a useful addition to undergraduate
and graduate courses in economic or cultural sociology." -- Laura
Doering * American Journal of Sociology *
"Daniel Fridman's Freedom from Work: Embracing Financial
Self-Help in the United States and Argentina is an outstanding
comparative ethnography of the rise and spread of financial
self-help groups in the United States and Argentina...I can't think
of many books on the development of financial self-discipline, or
finance for that matter, as enjoyable to read as this one. Fridman
is both witty and compassionate. His portraits of the many
characters a less careful analyst would not hesitate to dismiss as
con artists are at once critical and respectful." -- Simone Polillo
* Contemporary Sociology *
"Freedom from Work is an insightful and well-researched book
that shows one way in which neoliberal subjects are nowadays
produced. Any researcher interested in economic sociology,
neoliberal governmentality, the materiality of the financial world
and ethnographic research, should definitely read it." -- Tomas
Undurraga * Cultural Sociology *
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