Double Movement, Community and Market
Double Movement, Community and Market
The Relationship of Morality and Economy in the Light of Money and Credit
The article analyses debt in money as a basic human activity in the light of the Polanyian double movement and the overlaps between community and market. With some examples from Transylvanian rural communities, but relying mainly on the literature of cultural anthropology on money and its meanings and the links between money and morality, the article argues that in spite of the appearances in present day global capitalism money and debt have their meanings rooted in their history and the social contexts in which they are used. Despite this embeddedness, economic actors tend to be presented on the self-regulated market merely as rational individuals and the rationality is perceived as the single valid morality. Through the analyses of debt the article calls attention to this tension and the responsibilities stemming from it.