The Financialization of Social Policies in Mexico: The Laborious Conversion of Cash Transfers Into Financial Products

Abstract

The article analyzes a recent evolution of the social transfer program, Prospera in Mexico. The Mexican government is trying to link this aid to financial products (credit, savings) for the beneficiaries. Justified as a technical issue for the sake of greater efficiency, we show that this move is accompanied by profound transformations both of the actors involved in the implementation of this new generation of financialized social programs and of contradictory injunctions that frame the use of monetary transfers. Thus, money for social purposes and money intended to produce financial debt are not naturally convertible.