Abstract
Why does money matter?
As an Argentinian, I learned the organising role of money the hard way. At the end of 2001, amid the country’s worst socio-economic crisis, the government restricted bank withdrawals to 250 pesos per week (250 USD), immobilising all other funds. In a poorly banked economy – where only 1% of transactions were made via debit or credit cards – this led to economic paralysis and chaos at all social levels. Yet, in the urgent need to keep the economy running, 15 provinces issued their own currencies, and over 6 million people turned to barter clubs (Clubes de Trueque) to survive (Gómez, 2022). While these monetary solutions sought to restore money’s role as a coordination mechanism, they also revealed a crucial insight: money is not singular but plural, and it can be repurposed to shape a different present and future. This realisation is fundamental in post-capitalist transitions – one I have come to understand more deeply after reading this book.
Ester Barinaga’s Remaking Money for a Sustainable Future invites readers to open the black box of money, challenging the general assumption that money is simply an asset one may or may not possess. Instead, she proposes viewing money as commons, as the book’s subtitle suggests. Spanning 275 pages, the book is structured into three sections with short, accessible chapters that blend theoretical insights with practical examples of diverse monetary designs. Written in an engaging style for general readers, it also includes extensive notes and bibliography for academics seeking a deeper understanding of this heterodox perspective. Part of Bristol University Press’s Alternatives to Capitalism in the 21st Century series, the book is published open access.
One might ask: why does money matter? After all, it is merely an intermediary that standardises all things and experiences. As Simmel et al. (2011) observes, ‘we do not ask what and how [regarding money], but how much’ (p. 260), transforming everything into a ‘dull and grey hue’ (p. 257). While these ideas are widely accepted and reinforced by mainstream economics, alternative perspectives argue that money is neither homogeneous nor uniform but can be constituted differently (Desan, 2017). This shift raises crucial questions: who creates money, and who controls its distribution? (Martin, 2014: 276)—fundamental concerns for organisation scholars. Remaking Money for a Sustainable Future offers a comprehensive theorisation of money, moving beyond its conventional understanding as merely notes and coins. The book argues that money organises communities, and to organise them differently, two key shifts are needed. First, recognising money as a social technology for economic coordination. Second, understanding that its value emerges from the relationships that constitute it and the continuous exchange and interaction it enables.
First shift: Money as a commons
The traditional question what is money? remains framed by two opposing views: the metallist approach, which sees money as a commodity with intrinsic value rooted in a barter-based imaginary, and the chartalist approach, which views money as an accounting tool managed by central authorities – such as temples – that granted credit and collected taxes, later repaid during harvest. Rather than seeking the essence of money, the book explores its architecture, unpacking the network of human and non-human relationships that constitute it and bridging these two perspectives. Banks play a crucial role in the current monetary network; both shaping and being shaped by money. Traditionally viewed as intermediaries that channel savers’ money to borrowers, banks create money by recording new loans in their ledgers. This process exacerbates inequality and amplifies economic cycles, undermining both people’s and nature’s interests in financing. In a startling way, money – a fundamental infrastructure for the organisation of society – has been privatised.
While conventional money has structural disorganising effects, evidence suggests it can also be imagined as common, as the book’s subtitle states. Although the idea is not new to the journal readers (Meyer and Hudon, 2017), the book unpacks this concept, bringing to the fore the importance of monetary design and governance. The monetary system of Yap, a small Pacific island group, relied on giant immovable stones called feis as currency (Martin, 2014). These stones functioned as a ledger, recording members’ contributions to the community. Though seemingly a minor detail, this transformed a person-to-person credit-debt relationship into a person-to-community relationship of credit, revealing an alternative organising role of money in society. Barinaga draws on Ostrom’s (1990) distinction between resource systems and resource units in the commons, money consists of two key elements: tokens – such as Yapese stones or banknotes – and the monetary system, which includes banks, governments, financial agents and technologies. Rather than a commodity, the book argues that money is a social technology for organising the economy – an infrastructure that coordinates our collective economic present and shapes our shared future (p. 59). This perspective challenges the notion of money as private property controlled by the wealthy, asserting that communities have a right to engage in decisions about this collective good and, ultimately, to govern it.
Second shift: The kinetics of money
After exposing the limitations of conventional money, the book explores how different monetary systems emphasise distinct behaviours. Through historical and contemporary examples, it examines how grassroots movements, social entrepreneurs, municipalities and crypto activists have (re)designed and (re)organised money. Cases such as Sardex and Wörgl illustrate the positive impact of single-purpose money (Polanyi, 1957), particularly on local economies. The core issue lies in the contradiction inherent in conventional money: for a currency to function effectively as a medium of exchange, it must circulate widely and rapidly; yet to serve as a store of value, it must be withdrawn from circulation. Once again, the question of money’s governance emerges as crucial.
As Minsky (1986) famously stated, ‘everyone can create money; the problem is to get it accepted’ p. 255). Money’s value stems from the relationships that constitute it and the continuous give-and-take between individuals and the community. Monies driven by an individualistic rationale, like conventional currencies and algorithmic money (e.g. Bitcoin), detach individual interests from collective needs – encouraging hoarding through mechanisms such as selling forward securities and ‘holding forward’ assets. In contrast, citizen and municipal currencies follow a communal logic, embedding circulation and reciprocal obligations into their design. These alternative monetary systems reconnect individual actions with collective well-being, demonstrating that personal and community needs are inherently intertwined.
Prefigurative monies
The book examines examples of money as real utopias (Wright, 2010) – which is what Clubes de Trueque and provincial quasi-currencies were in Argentina in 2001 –, exploring the development of money commons and the implications of different monetary systems. Money is both constituted by and constitutive of the community, shaping its organisation, social relations and the embeddedness of economic and social spheres. The book first examines monetary experiments with Universal Basic Income designed to foster more inclusive communities through different rationales: Demos, Mumbuca and GoodDollar. It illustrates how theoretical principles outlined earlier in the book manifest in social interactions. Additionally, the book explores initiatives that position money in service of nature, integrating human life into the ecosystem. Again, the three rationales are examined through La Turuta, VilaWatt and Plastic Bank. Finally, the book provides concrete recommendations on aligning money with societal and environmental needs, emphasising the urgency of securing the primacy of society throughout the monetary assemblage (p. 181) in the Anthropocene.
Overall, the book aims to break the money silencing (Feinig, 2022), offering clear explanations of how monetary systems and their architectures shape agents’ behaviours, both theoretically and through practical examples. In doing so, it conceptualises money as a dynamic, socially constructed element of the economy, highlighting how different monetary systems and norms influence behaviour. This challenges the static and asocial perspectives often found in economic literature. Thus, I believe the book opens new avenues for organisation scholars, eager to research money as a crucial element in society’s organisation.
