Nina Meier: Money Makes the World go Round: Refiguration of Monetary Orders. [Abstract]

This paper adds to the discussion on the varieties of economic spaces by developing a socio-spatial analysis of currency systems. By introducing a frequently overlooked topic in research on money and space, it argues that monetary systems involve multiple spatialities and scales, both at the level of empirical phenomena and at the level of economic theory. To substantiate this claim, the argument unfolds in three steps. First, a critical literature review underscores the need for a more comprehensive theoretical perspective and outlines the criteria such a perspective must meet. In the second step, refiguration theory is proposed as a productive framework to address these gaps. Through an analysis of Bitcoin and the Euro, the final section illustrates how spatial logics interact within currency systems. The guiding question of this analysis is two-pronged: Which spatial logics influence the conception of currency systems? What spatial effects emerge from the organizational structures of both Euro and Bitcoin, including the material infrastructures of production and distribution? The analysis reveals how multiple spatialities are not successively but simultaneously effective – both between different currency systems and within each.

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