Debt and the Future of Workers: Financialization as Exploitation in the 21st Century

Author:   Giorgos Gouzoulis (Queen Mary University of London)
Publisher:   Bristol University Press
ISBN:  

9781529241907


Pages:   198
Publication Date:   23 April 2026
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   Awaiting stock   Availability explained


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Debt and the Future of Workers: Financialization as Exploitation in the 21st Century


Overview

Since the late 1970s, student, mortgage, and medical debt have continued to rise in line with lowered public spending and the privatization of key services by Western governments. Gouzoulis shows how working households beholden to these economic burdens are prevented from demanding better working conditions and pay. By tracing the link between household financialization and workers' ability to unionise and take action, Gouzoulis reveals how today's financialized capitalism is sustained, and offers a radical plan on how unions can push back through collaboration and collective action to defend workplace democracy.

Full Product Details

Author:   Giorgos Gouzoulis (Queen Mary University of London)
Publisher:   Bristol University Press
Imprint:   Bristol University Press
ISBN:  

9781529241907


ISBN 10:   1529241901
Pages:   198
Publication Date:   23 April 2026
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  General/trade ,  Professional & Vocational ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming
Availability:   Awaiting stock   Availability explained

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: The Rise of the Indebted Working Class 2. How Did We End Up Here? 3. Union Membership in the Era of Financialization 4. Debt, Resistance, and the Future of Industrial Action 5. Precarity and Wages 6. The Great Stabiliser: The Finance Wage Premium 7. Conclusion: Is There Still Power in a Union?

Reviews

While focus on the effects of inequality on household indebtedness is widespread, few economists have recognized the pernicious effects of household debt on inequality. Giorgos Gouzoulis develops this connection thoroughly. In the process, he fills a vitally important gap, connecting finance to working households’ disempowerment, lagging wages, and growing insecurity"", Mark Setterfield, Leo Model Professor of Economics, The New School For Social Research. ""A powerful and timely study showing how debt and financialization reshape work and weaken labour. Gouzoulis also shows how collective power can be rebuilt"", Costas Lapavitsas, University of London.


Author Information

Giorgos Gouzoulis is Associate Professor in the School of Business and Management at Queen Mary University of London.

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