Project description
A closer look at the political implications of digital money
Digital innovations have revolutionised the concept of money, challenging traditional state control. The emergence of new actors in currency issuance has led to debates about the future of state-defined money. Cryptocurrencies offer decentralised, state-independent access, while central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) aim to maintain regulatory authority. This shift raises questions about the political implications of digital money. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) programme, the DIGIMONEY project aims to study cryptocurrencies and CBDCs. Using an anthropological approach, it will examine how digital money shapes political collectivities. Focusing on Mexico’s upcoming CBDC and Venezuela’s high cryptocurrency usage, DIGIMONEY seeks to understand money as a political battleground rather than merely a market tool.
Objective
Over the last decade, digital innovations have transformed a fundamental aspect of our societies: money. These innovations have brought new actors to the realm of issuing currencies, leading to what some have defined as the end of an era in which money was defined by the state. DIGIMONEY will study two of these developments. On one hand, cryptocurrencies. Thanks to blockchain technology, these would allow a decentralized and state-independent access to money. On the other hand, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). These would serve to reaffirm state regulatory power in the face of private and anti-state monetary initiatives. In short, while CBDCs seek to uphold the nation-state political structures, cryptocurrencies aim to transcend them. Through an anthropological approach, DIGIMONEY main objective is to study the critical role of digital money in shaping both established and emerging forms of political collectivities. Instead of treating money as a purely market catalyst (as orthodox economic theory often does), project’s originality lies in its analysis of money as a battleground where diverse political collectivities attempt to reaffirm their power and trace the boundaries of their presence and sovereignty. To achieve this, DIGIMONEY research will be developed in two countries that constitute paradigmatic cases in relation to each digital currency: Mexico (where the state is on the verge of launching its CBDC) and Venezuela (the third country in the world with the highest volume of cryptocurrencies transactions). By integrating an outstanding international research environment and developing an adapted training program, the candidate will qualify as a leading researcher in a new and promising field of research at the crossroads of anthropology of money and political economy of money. Furthermore, he will acquire new writing, communicative, and management skills that will allow him to reach a position of professional excellence and independence.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
You need to log in or register to use this function
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-GF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global FellowshipsCoordinator
13572 Marseille
France