2025 RSA Latin America Conference

Session Organisers:
Ana Melisa Pardo, Instituto de Geografía, UNAM, México
Ana Paula Montes, Técnológico de Monterrey, México
Luis Alberto Salinas, Instituto de Geografía, UNAM, México

Session Description: (English translation below)

Desde finales del siglo XX, el avance de las finanzas ha transformado profundamente las dinámicas económicas a escala global. Estas transformaciones se han trabajado desde el concepto de financiarización, proceso que no solo ha impactado a las empresas y los mercados, sino también a los hogares, que cada vez más dependen del crédito para acceder a bienes esenciales como la educación, la salud o la vivienda (Lapavitsas, 2016). En este contexto, ha emergido un campo de estudio centrado en la financiarización de la vida cotidiana, que busca comprender cómo las decisiones financieras afectan las prácticas, los significados y las relaciones sociales en el ámbito doméstico (Massó et al., 2020; Karaagac, 2020).

En América Latina, donde los mercados de crédito formales se entrelazan con esquemas informales muchas veces abusivos, y donde las condiciones estructurales de desigualdad están marcadas por la clase, el género y la raza, el endeudamiento ha adquirido una dimensión especialmente crítica para las mujeres. Las brechas salariales, la sobrecarga del trabajo doméstico y de cuidados, y la exclusión del mercado formal de trabajo y crédito (Condusef, 2019; INEGI, 2021) hacen que muchas mujeres enfrenten condiciones adversas para sostener sus proyectos familiares sin recurrir a la deuda.

Este panel tiene como objetivo explorar críticamente cómo la financiarización afecta la vida cotidiana de las mujeres en contextos latinoamericanos, particularmente a través del endeudamiento vinculado al acceso a la vivienda. Nos interesa comprender no solo las condiciones estructurales que configuran esta realidad, sino también las estrategias de resistencia, resignificación y gestión de la deuda que las mujeres desarrollan en su vida cotidiana. Buscamos reunir investigaciones empíricas y reflexiones teóricas que permitan complejizar la comprensión del endeudamiento femenino como fenómeno estructural y vivencial, desde perspectivas feministas, urbanas y económicas.

Bibliografía
Comisión Nacional para la Protección y Defensa de los Usuarios de Servicios Financieros (Condusef), (2019). Anuario Estadístico. Disponible en https://www.condusef.gob.mx/documentos/estadistica/estad2020/anuario_2019.pdf
INEGI (2021). Encuesta Nacional de Ocupación y Empleo (ENOE). Disponible en https://www.inegi.org.mx/programas/enoe/15ymas/
Karaagac, E. A. (2020). The financialization of everyday life: Caring for debts. Geography Compass, 14(11), e12541. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/gec3.12541
Lapavitsas, C. (2016). Beneficios sin producción: cómo nos explotan las finanzas. Madrid: Traficantes de sueños.

In English:

Title: Gender, debt, and the financialization of everyday life: experiences from Latin America

Session Description:
Since the end of the 20th century, the advancement of finance has profoundly transformed economic dynamics on a global scale. These transformations have been addressed through the concept of financialization, a process that has impacted not only businesses and markets but also households, which increasingly rely on credit to access essential goods such as education, healthcare, and housing (Lapavitsas, 2016). In this context, a field of study has emerged focused on the financialization of everyday life, which seeks to understand how financial decisions affect practices, meanings, and social relations in the domestic sphere (Massó et al., 2020; Karaagac, 2020).

In Latin America, where formal credit markets are intertwined with often abusive informal schemes, and where structural conditions of inequality are marked by class, gender, and race, debt has taken on a particularly critical dimension for women. Wage gaps, the overload of domestic and care work, and exclusion from the formal labor and credit markets (Condusef, 2019; INEGI, 2021) mean that many women face adverse conditions in sustaining their family projects without resorting to debt.

This panel aims to critically explore how financialization affects the daily lives of women in Latin American contexts, particularly through indebtedness linked to access to housing. We are interested in understanding not only the structural conditions that shape this reality, but also the strategies of resistance, redefinition, and debt management that women develop in their daily lives. We seek to bring together empirical research and theoretical reflections that allow for a more complex understanding of female indebtedness as a structural and experiential phenomenon, from feminist, urban, and economic perspectives.

Bibliography:
National Commission for the Protection and Defense of Users of Financial Services (Condusef), (2019). Statistical Yearbook. Available at https://www.condusef.gob.mx/documentos/estadistica/estad2020/anuario_2019.pdf
INEGI (2021). National Survey of Occupation and Employment (ENOE). Available at https://www.inegi.org.mx/programas/enoe/15ymas/
Karaagac, E.A. (2020). The financialization of everyday life: Caring for debts. Geography Compass, 14(11), e12541. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/gec3.12541
Lapavitsas, C. (2016). Profits without production: how finance exploits us. Madrid: Traficantes de sueños.

Session Organiser:
Vasco Barbosa, University Polytechnic of Viana do Castelo, Portugal

Session Description:

Intensive urbanisation has become a defining feature of contemporary urban and regional development, particularly in Latin America, where rapid urban expansion, population growth and socio-environmental shifts are reshaping cities and territories. This session explores the multifaceted processes of social and environmental change driven by intensive urbanisation, focusing on the tensions, opportunities and strategies for resilience in urban and regional contexts.
In this context, the session seeks to address how urban intensification affects governance structures, public policies, socio-spatial inequalities and environmental sustainability. It will examine both the challenges posed by accelerated urbanisation – such as informal settlements, socio-environmental vulnerability and infrastructure pressures – and potential solutions, including inclusive planning, ecological urbanism and participatory governance models.

Key themes:
Urban growth, land use dynamics and socio-spatial inequalities.
Informality, housing challenges and alternative urban development models.
Climate change, environmental degradation and adaptation strategies.
Infrastructure resilience and urban quality of life.
Digital transformation and smart city approaches in rapidly urbanising areas.
Governance and policy responses to urban intensification.
Social movements, urban resistance and new forms of urban citizenship.
The role of spatial planning in mitigating the impacts of intensive urbanisation

• Miguel Flores, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico
• Igor Tupy, Institute for Applied Economic Research (IPEA), Brazil
• Alejandra Trejo Nieto, El Colegio de México, Mexico
• Alejandro Mercado, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico, Mexico
• Cristina Ibarra-Armenta, Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa, Mexico
• Ismael Aguilar, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico
• Carolina Guevara, Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Ecuador
• Miguel Atienza, Universidad Católica del Norte, Chile
• Jose Borello, Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento, Argentina
• Laura Sariego, Universidad de Costa Rica, Costa Rica