The Allure of Finance: Social Impact Investing and the Challenges of Assetization in Financialised Capitalism

This paper analyses how social impact investing transforms social welfare funding from grants into return-bearing assets within financialised capitalism. Through a qualitative case study in Britain, it demonstrates how proponents utilise a collective action frame to foster “collective ignorance” regarding the extractive nature of assetization. Despite financial power, success hinges on the discursive frame’s credibility and salience. The research reveals how the allure of finance is used to reconfigure social goods into assets, highlighting the inherent tensions and challenges in this process.