Introduction -- Money as a commodity and 'neutral' symbol of commodities -- Abstract value, credit, and the state -- Money in sociological theory -- Fundamentals of a theory of money -- The historical origins of money and its pre-capitalist forms -- The development of capitalist credit-money -- The production of capitalist credit-money -- Monetary disorder -- New monetary spaces -- Concluding remarks
Summary
Mainstream economics fails to grasp the nature of money. It is seen either as a 'neutral veil' over the operation of the 'real' economy or as a 'thing' - a special commodity. This book draws on neglected traditions in the social sciences to develop a theory of the 'social relation' of money
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 228-240) and index
