ABSTRACT

An Anthropology of Money: A Critical Introduction shows how our present monetary system was imposed by elites and how they benefit from it. The book poses the question: how, by looking at different forms of money, can we appreciate that they have different effects? The authors demonstrate how modern money requires perpetual growth, an increase in inequality, environmental devastation, increasing commoditization, and, consequently, the perpetual consumption of ever more stuff. These are not intrinsic features of money, but, rather, of debt-money. This text shows that, through studying money in other cultures, we can have money that better serves the broader goals of society.

chapter 1|42 pages

Introduction

The Confusion over Money

chapter 2|34 pages

Theory, History and Money

chapter 3|22 pages

Modern Money

Credit Money and the Consequences

chapter 4|28 pages

The Future of Money and Its Possibilities