COVID‐19 and the Unequalizing Infrastructures of Financial Inclusion in Tamil Nadu

This article discusses the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on microfinance borrowers in Tamil Nadu, India. Through an examination of the social and financial infrastructures underpinning inclusive finance, the article demonstrates how the COVID‐19 pandemic exposes the limits and exclusionary tendencies of the for‐profit financial inclusion industry. The unequalizing breakdown of financial inclusion infrastructures during the pandemic prioritizes future revenue extraction over current livelihood needs, throwing hard‐hit borrowers back on hierarchical informal financial and social infrastructures to cope with COVID‐19‐induced risk. Tracing the experiences of poor microfinance borrowers in Tamil Nadu, this article examines how COVID‐19 is reshaping inclusive financial infrastructures in ways that reveal the dynamics of exclusion at the heart of financial inclusion.