An anthropology of money: A critical introduction

Authors

Timothy DiMuzio, University of WollongongFollow
Richard H. Robbins, Plattsburg State University

RIS ID

115150

Publication Details

Di Muzio, T. & Robbins, R. H. (2017). An anthropology of money: A critical introduction. New York, United States: Routledge.

Link to publisher version (URL)

Routledge

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.