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Towards a neo-Polanyian approach to money: integrating the concept of debt

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  • Hadrien Saiag

    (IIAC - Institut interdisciplinaire d'anthropologie du contemporain - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

The paper aims to reconsider Polanyi's approach to money. His best-known writing on money uses (1968) is deeply original and presents strong insights that dissociate money from the concept of the market. Polanyi also developed an interesting non-dichotomous understanding of money in his Great Transformation (2001 [1944]). However, taken together, these two contributions lead to some unresolved questions: his critique of the orthodox approach to money is ambivalent; his argument to separate payment from account is weak; and, most important, he ultimately makes an incomplete break with the classical real/monetary dichotomy. This paper proposes a distinction between money as a set of instruments and practices and money as a concept, through the integration of John Commons' concept of debt into Polanyi's framework. This reformulation allows us to resolve Polanyi's unresolved questions while preserving his major contributions, and leads to a more complex understanding of money.

Suggested Citation

  • Hadrien Saiag, 2014. "Towards a neo-Polanyian approach to money: integrating the concept of debt," Post-Print halshs-02343433, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-02343433
    DOI: 10.1080/03085147.2014.898825
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-02343433v1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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