Transformation in social protection financing in the era of financialized capitalism: An analysis of the French case[Transformations dans le financement de la protection sociale à l'ère du capitalisme financiarisé : Une analyse du cas français]

Does the French social protection system act as a brake on financialized capitalism, or as one of its mechanisms? The system is often presented as a Fordist legacy standing in the way of a finance-dominated accumulation regime. This reading appears to rest on a perspective that does not fully account for its recent transformations. This article analyzes the financing arrangements of social protection in the era of financialized capitalism and questions its place within a financialized economy. Drawing on the concept of financialization, it traces the recomposition of financing since the 1990s, showing how the system has integrated financial capital, through what instruments, and at what cost. The method combines an original quantitative analysis of financial flows between social protection bodies and the financial sector over the period 1990–2024, complemented by a qualitative analysis of institutional and financial documents. The article then offers a reinterpretation of its role in the contemporary configuration of capitalism, drawing on regulation theory. The results show that the system has integrated financial actors and instruments at the core of its financing. Its model is now hybrid: non-repayable resources from compulsory levies are supplemented by repayable funds, accompanied by interest payments to financial actors. Thus, far from restraining a financialized economy, social protection today appears to contribute to its reproduction. It produces safe and profitable assets that fuel financial expansion, while containing the social tensions liable to destabilize it.