A problematizing review of the financialization of living beings

Abstract

<p>This paper examines the spread of financial logic and reasoning into the valuation practices by which living beings are valued. The purpose is two-fold. First, by conducting a literature review, the paper aims to connect critical accounting studies and other disciplines that address the financialization of living beings. The second purpose is cross-disciplinary as the aim is to problematize the disparate treatment of living beings in the previous financialization literature. In contrast to the previous financialization literature, this paper takes a multispecies approach by acknowledging the complex interdependences between all living beings. The research method used is a problematizing review, which enables the researcher to rethink and deconstruct dominant assumptions in the existing literature on the financialization of living beings. According to the findings, the financialization of living beings has been studied mainly from the perspective of three different theoretical traditions: 1) Foucauldian-inspired tradition of biopolitics and governmentality 2) ANT-inspired performativity and 3) financialization as a mode of Marxist capital accumulation. In addition, this paper identifies factors that enable and hamper the financialization process. By reviewing different disciplines, this paper suggests new and more holistic ways to study the financialization of living beings in critical accounting research.</p>