Abstract
The global culture that took shape at the end of the twentieth century was distinctively Western—indeed, largely Anglo-American—in origin. This chapter describes its main features. It was linked to and—supporters would add—justified by some notion of its broader purpose, that is, how it contributed to social welfare. However, it only took its present form after the financial crash, which damaged the credibility of the underlying model. The collapse also induced central banks to turn on the money taps. Therefore, as we shall see, while the global money space survived, the global money culture has mutated under the influences of two big forces: a surplus of state-created money and a deficit of legitimacy.
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Notes
- 1.
An ideal type is formed from characteristics and elements that are in some way typical or representative of the phenomenon being described; it is not meant to include all of its characteristics. It has nothing to do with ‘ ideal’ in a moral sense or to a concept of perfection but is used to refer to certain elements common to most cases of the given phenomenon: ‘the much-discussed “ideal type”, a key term in Weber’s methodology, refers to the construction of certain elements of reality into a logically precise conception’ (Gerth and Mills 1948).
- 2.
As Sennett points out, this search for potential to grow rather than past achievement suits the peculiar conditions of flexible organisations but is also used to eliminate people; those judged without inner resources are left in limbo: ‘They can be judged no longer useful or valuable, despite what they have accomplished’ (Sennett 2006).
- 3.
An excellent illustration of the way the money virus can spread diseases—in this case fatal diseases—is provided by the drama The King of Hell’s Palace by Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig. Based on evidence of Dr Shuping Wang, a virologist, about her work at a blood plasma collection station in the Zhoukou region, Henan province, in the 1990s, the play shows how poor villagers were seduced by the lure of easy money to join a local blood collection centre, unwittingly exposing themselves to—and helping to spread—the Hepatitis C and HIV/AIDS viruses. Profit-oriented business specialising in this work increased rapidly under official encouragement in the 1990s and Dr Shuping’s warnings about the risks were obstructed by the Chinese officials and she was dismissed. At the time there were 20,000 donors selling blood in one country alone, 45% of whom tested positive in Hepatitis C antibody testing. Later at least 500 people a day were being infected with Hepatitis C and HIV. In the drama the villages who donate blood die. An estimated 1 million destitute farmers sold their blood plasma at collection sites and were infected with the deadly disease. Shuping had to contend with continuous intimidation by the Chinese authorities even after moving to the United States and becoming a US citizen. She died on September 21, 2019 of an apparent heart attack. She was 59.
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Pringle, R. (2019). The Global Money Culture: An Outline. In: The Power of Money. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25894-8_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25894-8_12
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