The Currency of Politics

In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, the world's focus shifted towards understanding the most fundamental element of market economies: money. Yet, despite being at the heart of countless political struggles, money's democratic possibilities and limits often remain obscure. The Currency of Politics by Stefan Eich provides a comprehensive intellectual history of money from ancient Greece to the present day, revealing how money is not merely a medium of exchange but also a vital institution of political rule.

Eich deftly navigates through various historical landscapes, uncovering the political theories of money through the insights of influential philosophers such as Aristotle, John Locke, Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Karl Marx, and John Maynard Keynes. By examining six pivotal episodes of monetary crisis, he illustrates how these moments have shaped contemporary understandings of money and highlights the necessity of informed public debate over its purposes and meanings.

Money often seems beyond the control of democratic politics—a notion Eich argues is misleading. Even when monetary politics is unavoidable, discerning its proper democratic role is challenging. The Currency of Politics recovers vital foundational ideas at the intersection of monetary rule and democratic politics, demonstrating why a more profound historical awareness of monetary politics' limitations is essential for articulating more democratic concepts of money.

The Currency of Politics is not simply an academic account; it is a critical call to rethink how we understand money within the political realm. Eich's narrative reveals the intricate relationship between currency and democracy, urging readers to consider money not just as an economic tool but as a critical component of democratic agency and political theory.

The Currency of Politics breaks the frame we use to understand money. More than an instrument or an institution, currency becomes a nerve centre of political theory. Deeply in dialogue with the past, Stefan Eich compels us forward to conceptualise money as a medium for democratic agency—or its loss. A tour de force.' - Christine Desan, author of Making Money: Coin, Currency, and the Coming of Capitalism

'With deftness, elegance, and intellectual verve, Eich paints a vivid and compelling picture of the whole history of political and economic thought as revealed through an interrogation of money. It is clear that this insightful book announces a new and important voice in the field.' - David Singh Grewal, author of Network Power