The Rise of Alternative Currencies in Post‐Capitalism

• Date: 01 July 2017
• Published date: 01 July 2017
• Author: Boyd Cohen
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12245

The Rise of Alternative Currencies in Post-Capitalism

Boyd Cohen

EADA Business School Barcelona

During this decade we have witnessed the introduction or scaling of several forms of

alternative currencies. The Alternative Currency Database includes more than 300 local

alternative paper currencies. Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin represent non-

government backed digital currencies that have grown substantially through the under-

lying blockchain technology. Timebanking is another form of alternative currency

where more than four million hours of time have been exchanged for future time from

network members around the globe.

I believe we are on the cusp of a transformation in how value is captured and

exchanged in society. Much of this change is driven by a grassroots, and technologically-

empowered movement, to confront the ills perceived to be powered and exacerbated by

market-based capitalism, such as climate change and income inequality. I will argue

that alternative currencies discourage passive investment, and therefore serve as a

powerful alternative to market-based capitalism.

Throughout this essay, I refer to ‘traditional currencies’ as strong currencies and alter-

native currencies as ‘weak currencies’. Strong currencies allow for, and frequently incor-

porate incentives for investors, speculators, financiers and others to hoard or leverage

money for economic gain, whereas weak currencies are those with no inherent incentive

in accumulating the currency, and in fact, may have built-in disincentives to do so.

Before describing each of the three forms of alternative currencies of interest in this

essay (local paper currency, timebanking and cryptocurrency) it is worth briefly review-

ing current thinking about alternative currencies.

POSITIONING ALTERNATIVE CURRENCIES AS A POST-CAPITALIST

RESPONSE TO STRONG CURRENCIES

While management scholars have largely been blinded by the emergence of alternative

currencies, scholars in many other fields have explored alternative currencies from

Address for reprints: Boyd Cohen, EADA Business School, Carrer Arago, 204 Barcelona, Spain 08011

(bcohen@eada.edu).

For your comments about this discussion, please visit http://www.socadms.org.uk/rise-alternative-currencies/.

V

C2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Society for the Advancement of Management Studies

Journal of Management Studies 54:5 July 2017

doi: 10.1111/joms.12245