Abstract
The book Credits and Emotions: Textures of the 21st Century, compiled by Florencia Chahbenderian (2024), begins by considering consumption—and its counterpart, credit—as key elements for understanding how today's societies are structured. The unavoidable transformations in the accumulation regime, marked by the crisis of Fordism, the dismantling of the welfare state, and the institutionalization of labor flexibility, have provided the backdrop for growing financial hegemony in more and more areas of life. In a context of rising levels of poverty, defined as "structural," where access to goods and services depends largely on individuals' purchasing power, credit is no longer used exclusively to acquire durable goods. Borrowing is emerging as a viable strategy for satisfying basic needs such as access to housing, food, and urban mobility, giving rise to a politics of sensibilities characteristic of the present century.