Financialization Research Lab
Welcome to the new homepage of the Financialization Research Lab, a research unit based at the Institute of Political Economy at Carleton University.
Register for “Confrontations with Pension Fund Capitalism”
Mark your calendars and register now!
Launch event: Confrontations with Pension Fund Capitalism
On 26 March 2025, GRAIN and the Financialization Research Lab at Carleton University are organising a hybrid event to launch the website of their Resisting Pension Fund Capitalism project. The event, hosted by Public Services International, builds on the two part webinar series organised by GRAIN in 2022.
Confrontations with Pension Fund Capitalism
Date: Wednesday, March 26, 14:30-16:00 EST / 18:30-20:00 GMT
Location: Room 1524, Dunton Tower, Carleton University – Ottawa, Canada
Interpretation to English, French & Spanish will be available
To register on zoom: https://world-psi.zoom.us/meeting/register/JNmmRK3-Ql-bSLRocqOHLg#/registration
The world is being acquired, reorganized, privatized, and transformed through processes described by many scholars and analysts as “financialization.” However, one of the largest and most influential actors in these processes, pension funds, has been largely overlooked by most analysts, as well as by many campaigners and political activists. Simultaneously, workers—often portrayed as the beneficiaries of both the profit-driven activities of their own pension funds and the investment strategies of other workers’ pension funds—have been experiencing setbacks, with pension coverage declining in numerous regions.
This hybrid event provides an opportunity for an in-depth exploration of this troubling phenomenon and the significant political questions it raises. The discussion will examine the role of trade unions in this context, the potential to curb governmental efforts toward widespread privatization, and whether popular movements can secure retirement benefits without contributing to predatory financial practices.
The event will include presentations by: Jason Ward of CICTAR (Australia) on the Orpéa scandal involving a care company co-owned by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board that recently collapsed; Livi Gerbase of CICTAR (Brazil) on ‘pension fund capitalism’ in Latin America, including the role of Brookfield in Colombia; and Marco Kremerman of Fundación Sol (Chile) on Chile’s popular movement for pension reform.
A subsequent online event, focusing on financialisation in the Asia Pacific, will be organised during the third week of May 2025 at a more appropriate time for Asian time zones.
For more information and/or to subscribe for updates from the Resisting Pension Fund Capitalism project, please email: Kevin Skerrett at kevinskerrett@cunet.carleton.ca or through the project section of the Lab website here.