Predatory Inclusion: Financial Markets, Debt and Palestinian Citizens of Israel

掠夺性包容：金融市场、债务和以色列的巴勒斯坦公民

• 批准号: 2727655
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2727655
• 关键词: Predatory; Inclusion; Financial; Markets; Debt

Palestinians in Israel suffer from chronic unemployment and impoverishment. In 2018, only 57.7 percent of Palestinian Citizens of Israel (hereafter PCI) between the ages of 25-64 were employed, in comparison with the national employment rate of 80.3 percent. In the same year 45 percent lived in poverty. Many PCI are excluded from Israel's financial market with 18 percent not having an active bank account. Others, however, have been incorporated on an unequal and discriminatory basis. Despite constituting 21.4 percent of the population, PCI hold 1.8 percent of mortgages. While access to mortgages is limited, consumer credit is accessible. Concurrently, the majority (68 percent) of PCI report a protracted state of indebtedness and are disproportionately (37 percent) subjected to asset forfeiture following debt default. Consequently, over the last decade, the Israeli government has developed a strategy to increase the financial inclusion of its two million Palestinian citizens. Policies implemented as part of this strategy include the doubling of granted mortgages and increasing access to credit and microcredit loans through newly established funds. Official documents discursively frame financial inclusion as a means of elevating the socio-economic status of PCI and weakening the role of organised Palestinian criminal organisations. The financial marginalisation of PCI - Israel's most disadvantaged community - is said to push them towards borrowing from illicit lenders, who respond with violence in cases of insolvency (e.g.Governmental CEO Committee 2020; Resolution 292).I propose researching Israeli state financial inclusion strategies and policies towards PCI, to understand their history, character, and implications for racial capitalism in Israel, and their relationship to the ongoing practices of Israeli settler-colonialism. Utilising theoretical work on financial markets, race, debt, inequality, and marginalisation in other socio-political contexts (e.g. Elyachar 2002; Gilmore 2007; Galino 2010; Han 2012; James 2014; Taylor 2019), my project will deliver new insights into a range of scholarly debates, particularly on financialisation and inclusion; Israel/Palestine studies; racial capitalism; and settler-colonial studies. My research will be guided by three questions: 1. What are the financial inclusion mechanisms and policies targeting PCI, developed since Israel's neoliberal turn in the early 1980s? 2. How have the racial and class dynamics of PCI been shaped by Israel's financial inclusion strategies? 3. How have policies of financial inclusion impacted the integration and position of PCI within Israeli society?This research will fill a gap in scholarship on the political economy of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict by focusing on the overlooked case of PCI. As Israeli citizens, PCI face a distinct form of marginalisation that differs from Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. The relationship of PCI to Israeli racial capitalism is significantly mediated through their access and incorporation into Israel financial, housing, and labour markets. This research will also shed light on how the PCI reality is shaped by global capitalist dynamics and a regime of racial domination. Furthermore, my research will situate PCI in a comparative context with other groups subjected to structural racism and exploitation, and where financial inclusion has been used as a political tool, including South Africa, the USA and Chile. Exploring the similarities and divergences with these case studies will help move away from a framework of exceptionalism that pervades scholarly research on PCI.This project will integrate quantitative and qualitative research methods including content analysis, a survey to assess the shape and depth of PCI indebtedness and semi-structured interviews with policy makers, creditors and indebted PCI from various backgrounds between the ages of 20-45.

以色列的巴勒斯坦人长期失业和贫困。 2018年，年龄在25-64岁之间的以色列巴勒斯坦公民（以下简称PCI）中只有57.7%就业，而全国就业率为80.3%。同年，45% 的人生活在贫困之中。许多 PCI 被排除在以色列金融市场之外，其中 18% 的 PCI 没有活跃的银行账户。然而，其他一些组织是在不平等和歧视的基础上被纳入的。尽管 PCI 占人口的 21.4%，但其抵押贷款却占 1.8%。虽然获得抵押贷款的机会有限，但可以获得消费信贷。与此同时，大多数 PCI (68%) 报告长期负债状态，并且不成比例地 (37%) 在债务违约后遭受资产没收。因此，在过去十年中，以色列政府制定了一项战略，以提高 200 万巴勒斯坦公民的金融包容性。作为该战略一部分实施的政策包括将发放的抵押贷款增加一倍，以及通过新设立的基金增加获得信贷和小额信贷的机会。官方文件将普惠金融视为提升 PCI 社会经济地位并削弱有组织的巴勒斯坦犯罪组织作用的一种手段。 PCI——以色列最弱势的社区——的金融边缘化据说促使他们向非法贷款人借款，而非法贷款人在破产的情况下会以暴力回应（例如政府首席执行官委员会 2020 年；第 292 号决议）。我建议研究以色列国家金融普惠战略和PCI 政策，了解其历史、特征和对以色列种族资本主义的影响，以及它们与以色列定居者殖民主义现行做法的关系。利用有关金融市场、种族、债务、不平等和其他社会政治背景下的边缘化的理论工作（例如 Elyachar 2002；Gilmore 2007；Galino 2010；Han 2012；James 2014；Taylor 2019），我的项目将为一系列学术辩论，特别是关于金融化和包容性的辩论；以色列/巴勒斯坦研究；种族资本主义；和定居者殖民研究。我的研究将围绕三个问题进行： 1. 自 20 世纪 80 年代初以色列新自由主义转向以来，针对 PCI 的普惠金融机制和政策是什么？ 2. 以色列的普惠金融战略如何影响 PCI 的种族和阶级动态？ 3. 普惠金融政策如何影响 PCI 在以色列社会中的整合和地位？本研究将通过关注被忽视的 PCI 案例，填补巴以冲突政治经济学方面的学术空白。作为以色列公民，PCI 面临着与约旦河西岸和加沙地带的巴勒斯坦人不同的独特形式的边缘化。 PCI 与以色列种族资本主义的关系通过其进入和融入以色列金融、住房和劳动力市场而得到显着调节。这项研究还将揭示全球资本主义动态和种族统治政权如何塑造 PCI 现实。此外，我的研究将把 PCI 置于与其他遭受结构性种族主义和剥削的群体（包括南非、美国和智利）进行比较的背景下，其中普惠金融已被用作政治工具。探索这些案例研究的相似性和差异将有助于摆脱普遍存在于 PCI 学术研究中的例外论框架。该项目将整合定量和定性研究方法，包括内容分析、评估 PCI 债务的形式和深度的调查以及对年龄在 20-45 岁之间不同背景的政策制定者、债权人和负债 PCI 进行半结构化访谈。