Energopolitics and Alternative Currencies: a theoretical proposition for degrowthing money

Abstract

There has been a resurgence of research in the utility of regional, complementary, and alternative currencies in transitioning to a more economically and ecologically sound world. The dominance of supranational currencies has been shown to exacerbate economic contractions in less resilient or underdeveloped countries while undermining local autonomy and trade. As a way to counteract the outflow of local value in globalized/supranational currencies, countries and communities have experimented with adopting alternative forms of currency. Increasingly, alternative currencies have been used as a tool for both social and ecological justice, especially for the purposes of economic degrowth. This paper identifies monetary system projects that have developed under a system of values that differ or actively oppose neoclassical suppositions of the idea and role of money in a society. A mixed methods approach is used to survey resilient regional currencies internationally and uncover the expiration of monetary projects domestic to the United States. Research suggests that regional currencies are aligned with maintaining community sovereignty, weathering global economic downturns, and are a necessary tool in the community control of production and trade.