Description
Book SynopsisInsurance is an important – if still poorly understood – mechanism for dealing with a broad variety of risks associated with modern life. This book conducts an in-depth examination of one of the largest and longest-established private insurance industries in Europe: British life insurance. In doing so, it draws on over 40 oral history interviews to trace how the sector has changed since the 1970s, a period characterized by rampant financialization and neoliberalization. Combining insights from science and technology studies and economic sociology, this is an unprecedented study of the evolution of insurance practices and an invaluable contribution to our understanding of financial capitalism.
Table of ContentsChapter 1: Life Insurance in the Age of Finance Chapter 2: Financialization, Quantification and Evaluation Chapter 3: Shifting Boundaries between Insurance and Finance Chapter 4: Actuaries Going on a Random Walk Chapter 5: ‘Authors of Their Own Misfortune’ Chapter 6: ‘Taking Account of What the Market Has To Say’ Chapter 7: Managing Risk in Insurance Chapter 8: The Long Road to Solvency II (and Back Again?) Chapter 9: De-Risking Pensions, Managing Assets Chapter 10: Financial Evaluation and the Future of Insurance Society References
