ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at accounting for the dramatic plurality of money through the discussion of a conceptual framework built on Polanyian writings. It discusses the requirements for a relevant typology, followed by Polanyi's distinction between all-purpose money and special-purpose money. Three ideal types of moneys are then outlined: public, business and associative moneys, depending on the nature of their issuer: political entities, companies or associations. Polanyi's discussion of the forms of economic integration brings out the major criteria for understanding money systems in their complexity and hybridisation. The three ideal types are used in the light of this conceptual framework so as to take into account a variety of cases within the contemporary multiplicity of moneys. The integration forms are 'instituted processes' that confer 'unity and stability' on economic processes and the main forms are reciprocity, redistribution and exchange.
