Society After Money

“Project Society after Money” is an interdisciplinary project between commons theory (Stefan Meretz, Bonn), evolutionary economics (Manuel Scholz-Wäckerle, Vienna), media studies (Jens Schröter, Bonn) and sociology (Hanno Pahl, Munich), which was founded in 2016, funded by the VW foundation 2016-2018. It includes several additional researchers from the aforementioned fields. It’s aim is to discuss possible alternative economic forms beyond money. This research is highly relevant given the economic and ecological crisis.

‘Logic is the money of the mind’, wrote Karl Marx in 1844. In 2018, in a world of humans with minds transformed by the global impact of information technologies, logic becomes distorted: Will money as we know it disappear? Society After Money uses transdisciplinary approaches to understand burning questions of today’s society: How will the digital revolution change money forms? Is money indeed a necessary ingredient of social dynamics? What is the essence of money? In this thought provoking book, a broad variety of ideas has been collected. It should be read by everybody interested in thinking about money in a fresh and unconventional way.

• Introduction1. A Society After Money? Historical Position, Characteristics and Perspectives of Current Approaches to Post-Monetary Economic Activity (Lars Heitmann, Project Society After Money, Germany)2. Concept and Crisis of Money 2.1 The Elephant in the Room: The Money Commodity and its Mysteries (Ernst Lohoff, editor of Krisis, Germany)2.2 Monetary Mechanisms: Origins, Dynamics and Crisis (Tobias Kohl, author of Geld und Gesellschaft: Zu Entstehung, Funktionsweise und Kollaps von monetären Mechanismen, Zivilisation und sozialen Strukturen, 2015)2.3 Trialogue: Money as Medium or as General Commodity? (Ernst Lohoff, editor of Krisis, Germany; Hanno Pahl, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany; Jens Schröter, University of Bonn, Germany)2.4 On the Possibility of a Society after Money: Evolutionary Political Economy, Economic Subjectivity and Planetary-Scale Computation (Ernest Aigner, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria, and Manuel Scholz-Wäckerle, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria)3. Money as an Alien: Post-Monetary Elements in Utopian Literature and Science Fiction (Annette Schlemm, Independent Scholar, Germany)4. Mediation After Money 4.1 A Critical View on the Criticism of Money (Christian Siefkes, independent scholar, Germany)4.2 Categorical Foundations of a Post-Monetary Society (Stefan Meretz, co-founder of the German Commons Institute)4.3 The Post-Capitalist Feminism Cookie. The Main Course: A Commons-Creating Peer Production as a Possible Future (Friederike Habermann, independent scholar, Germany)4.4 Trialogue: Implicit and Explicit Views of Human Nature (Friederike Habermann, independent scholar, Germany; Stefan Meretz, co-founder of the German Commons Institute; Christian Siefkes, independent scholar, Germany)5. Mediality After Money5.1 Are We Approaching a Moneyless Society? (Peter Fleissner, TU Wein, Austria)5.2 Money: For a Non-Money Economy (Stefan Heidenreich, University of Cologne, Germany)5.3 Money and Digital Media (Jasmin Kathöfer, Braunschweig University of Art, Germany and Jens Schröter, University of Bonn, Germany)Afterword (Anitra Nelson, RMIT University, Australia)List of ContributorsIndex