Monedas socialesanálisis de factores precursores no utilitaristas

Resumen

SOCIAL CURRENCIES: ANALYSIS OF NON-UTILITARIST PRECURSORY FACTORS Abstract The satisfaction of people's needs depends on the economic actions that these people can undertake. The problem is that the economic system has been designed without considering all the factors involved in people's economic actions, leaving several of their needs unmet. These factors involved in economic actions are more evident in alternative experiences to the monetary economic system, such as social currencies. These experiences try to open other spaces for the exchange of products and services, seek self-organization and the elimination of intermediary agents, aim to increase control of the life situation, and promote proximity and human relations. Their study shows that they are not only created as a practical survival mechanism; There is another series of factors in their genesis and implementation that point to non-utilitarian factors that have deteriorated with economic globalization and that these activities seek to recover. But what are these non-utilitarian factors? How important are they to people's development? And can it be said that the monetary economic system forgets these factors? With the help of Economic Sociology and the rigorous examination of six social currencies in Spain, these questions are faced in this doctoral thesis. The main objective of the research is to analyze the non-utilitarian factors that are important for people in their economic actions. Therefore, this work aims to offer a different point of view from the analysis of the current economic system, and to add knowledge for lines of research that place human needs at the center of economic analysis. In order to achieve the main objective, intermediate steps are developed, conforming to three specific objectives: to study social currencies as alternative economic mechanisms, to give meaning to the precursory factors of social currencies within the economic process of individuals, and to identify whether the factors obtained can be characterized as deficient within the monetary economic system. To achieve these objectives, the research initially opts for a bibliographic project related to two main themes: the role of money in society and the current situation of social currencies. Next, fieldwork is carried out using a qualitative tool, the Delphi method and counting on the collaboration of representatives of some of the social currencies that emerged in Spain in recent years (the Chavico in Granada, the Zoquito in Jerez de la Frontera, the Bellota of Guadalajara, the Turuta in Villanova, la Mora in the Sierra Norte de Madrid, and La Mola in Madrid´s Hortaleza district). This qualitative work is complemented by a questionnaire to the users of these coins. The results obtained during this fieldwork are analyzed below and reflect the current role of social currencies and their challenges to position themselves as alternative economic tools. In the last part, an individualized examination of the precursory factors of social currencies is made and discussed, comparing them with the needs of human development and evaluating them within the monetary economic system. The research first finds that there are certain non-utilitarian factors that intervene as primary incentives when starting an alternative economic experience. These factors are self-esteem, inclusion in a community, acquiring more power in society, environmentalism, freedom, reciprocity, trust, plurality, solidarity, ideology and activism. The second finding is that all these aspects are included in the categories defined as essential for human development; that is, the people´s economic spectrum influences all their needs. Finally, the third finding is that the monetary economic system does not consider these non-utilitarian factors with the intensity people demand and, therefore, economic alternatives, such as social currencies, try to satisfy them. The project has different theoretical, political and practical implications. Firstly, the Thesis supports the theoretical perspective of Economic Sociology that considers economic actions to be social. For this, the analysis of people’s needs is deepened, evaluating the presence and importance of the needs related to economic actions. It also approaches the analysis of social currencies from another point of view, that of their motivating aspects. In relation to public policies, the research highlights the importance of considering non-utilitarian factors in decision-making by public and private entities. As for practices, it refers to the need to include these factors to make other interpretations of the monetary economic system within different educational settings and levels. Regarding social currencies, it highlights their potential to become an economic tool to reduce people's vulnerability and integrate other needs that are involved in their economic actions. Keywords: Social currencies, alternative economic experiences, alternative economies, non-utilitarian factors, economic actions, human needs.