Description

This course examines the growing field of social finance in driving sustainable development. We start by discussing how social finance became an industry following the post-2008 "moral turn in finance," and zoom in on its key concepts, actors, and institutions. We then explore a range of case studies of social finance instruments. Throughout the course, we address the challenges and moral tensions of measuring social impact, and adopt a global perspective on sustainable development in recognizing that "development problems" cut across the global North and global South. Students will learn about nascent social bond markets in Africa and Latin America, microcredit and digital finance, and global climate finance instruments. Our goal is to foster critical interdisciplinary debate on the role that social finance will play in reconfiguring the conventions of global finance. Will social value be a necessity, rather than an alternative, in global finance in future? Can finance be a force for the public good?