The Subaltern Speaks? Performing Poverty through Online Microfinance: A Critical Analysis of Kiva.org

Yartey, Franklin Nii Amankwah

doi:10.1080/1041794x.2017.1297848

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Research based on discourse analysis has been particularly critical of microcredit, and a number of studies have discussed Kiva from this angle as well. These studies focus on Kiva's visual appearance and marketing (Gajjala et al 2011;Yartey 2013;Bajde 2017), its neoliberal approach (Grewal 2014;Schwittay 2014;Carr et al 2016), its gendered representations of development (Black 2009;Moodie 2013), the competition between projects posted on the platform (Ly and Mason 2012), and on the intercultural connectedness it appears to establish (McKinnon et al 2013). 97 In different capacities, these studies reflect on how Kiva represents "Internet mediated microfinance" (Gajjala et al 2011, 880) and "microfinance through web 2.0 communication" (Yartey 2013, 63), and how the transactions through the platform are "staged as transparent, efficacious peer-topeer charitable lending" (Bajde 2017, 87).…”

Section: ~ Community and Changementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, Julie Hannah as the chair of Kiva, connects the market-oriented foundations of Kiva with the techno-optimism discussed in the previous paragraph by outlining that Kiva aims to "use the internet as a new form of connected capital where you can harness the principals of capitalism to benefit society" (Wavelength 2011). In response, the neoliberal market-orientation of Kiva has been critiqued multiple times (McKinnon et al 2013;Carr et al 2016;Yartey 2017). These critiques do not require extensive retelling, but the parallel presentation of digital networks and markets as facilitators of human connectedness are the backbone of Kiva's platformed development.…”

Section: ~ Community and Changementioning

confidence: 99%

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Oomen¹

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This dissertation addresses the concept of common humanity in humanitarian communication. Whereas NGOs in humanitarianism and development cooperation have relied on the construction of a ‘human identity’, the current ‘post-humanitarian’ condition is characterized by increased critique and cultural disintegration. NGOs struggle with the colonial legacy of their work and the (audio-visual) language that they use, whilst being confronted with both conservative and progressive critiques. Parallel to this, the rise of digital media complicates their aim to construct a consistent narrative about international solidarity. In this dissertation it is argued that an important strategy for NGOs in reinventing themselves is to set-up platform-like structures. Four such platforms are scrutinized here: (1) a platform that aims to combat fragmentation, (2) a platform that reflects on critiques, (3) a platform that tells (new) utopian stories, and (4) a platform to disseminate a range of different approaches to international solidarity. However, these platforms do not always succeed or allow for sufficient room to contemplate structural revisions in the discourse of international development. Particularly, the lack of attention for historical and political roots of (global) inequality impedes a fundamental reorientation of humanitarian communication.

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Section: ~ Community and Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: ~ Community and Changementioning

confidence: 99%

What Brings Us Together?

Oomen¹

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The color of money at the financial frontier

Alami

Guermond

2022

Review of International Political Economy

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Creating Responsible Subjects: The Role of Mediated Affective Encounters

Bajde¹,

Gaviria²

2021

Journal of Consumer Research

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Why do people willingly bestow upon themselves the responsibility to tackle social problems such as poverty? Consumer research has provided valuable insight into how individuals are created as responsible subjects but has yet to account for the crucial role of affective dynamics in subject formation. We draw upon affect theorizing and nascent research on ‘affective governmentality’ in organization and policy studies to theorize the formation of responsible subjects via affective encounters (i.e., consumption encounters through which consumers’ capacities to affect and to be affected change), and to explore how affective encounters are mediated downstream. Through a qualitative investigation of the online microloan market, we explain how market intermediaries contribute to the creation of affective-entrepreneurial subjects who willingly supply interest-free loans to the disadvantaged. The intermediaries accomplish this by nurturing and dramatizing a structure of feeling that subtends affective encounters, and by deploying apparatuses of affirmation and relatability to target and intervene into affective encounters. In addition to illuminating the affective dynamics involved in consumer responsibilization and subject formation more broadly, our study also facilitates critical reflection on the subject-formative power of consumer experiences and experiential marketing, and carries important implications for research on charitable giving, and critical thinking on microcredit.

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The Subaltern Speaks? Performing Poverty through Online Microfinance: A Critical Analysis of Kiva.org

Cited by 3 publications

References 39 publications

What Brings Us Together?

What Brings Us Together?

The color of money at the financial frontier

Creating Responsible Subjects: The Role of Mediated Affective Encounters

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