Dr Joseph Walton (Leicester University, IASH Fellow): Marvellous Moneys.

Dr Joseph Walton (Leicester University, IASH Fellow): Marvellous Moneys.

Abstract: This talk will explore the nature of financial value through the lens of contemporary speculative fiction. How do speculative fiction's imaginary currencies – such as Adam Roberts’s leaf-based currency, Charles Stross’s slow money and fast money, Kim Stanley Robinson’s calorie-based currency, and Karl Schroeder’s ‘rights economy’ – map against real alternative, complementary, and radical experimental currencies, including LETS, Green Dollars, and #PunkMoney? How does the speculation that shapes fiction relate to the speculation that shapes financial markets? What actually is money -- and what might it be?