In his book published by Pluto Press entitled “Decolonizing Money: The Promise of Abolishing the US Dollar,” economic anthropologist and activist Julio César Linares presents a radical and reformist vision to redefine the concept of money outside the frameworks of capitalism and traditional governmental sovereignty. The writer, who studied under the late thinker and anthropologist David Graeber, starts from a position that criticizes polarization.The dominant dualism in economic debates; Between free market capitalism, which seeks to subject all areas of life to the financial system, and visions that rely on the state alone to control and manage money.
In this work, Linares proposes an anarchist theory of money, arguing that money is not simply an instrument of commercial exchange or a store of value as defined by traditional economic theory, but rather, in essence, it is a set of “social promises and obligations” that societies impose on themselves, and thus canReshape and organize it in different ways. The writer believes that the hegemony of the US dollar and the imperialist financial system shackles the peoples of the world and drains the resources of the Global South through unjust debts, stressing that dismantling this hegemony and overcoming the dollar system represent a basic condition for achieving colonial and historical justice, canceling debts, and establishing a comprehensive universal basic income for all societies.The book draws on the intersections of anarchist thought, anti-colonial movements, and radical feminist movements, drawing lessons from global history and forgotten social currencies to argue that the creation and use of money, and more importantly the destruction of its exploitative forms, are instruments of power that must be reclaimed through direct action and grass-roots democracy. Linares also criticizes contemporary attempts to modify the financial system such as modern monetary theories (MMT) or cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin), describingIt lacks the desired political imagination and is framed by the same capitalist logic, calling instead for a popular democratic project that guarantees independence, self-determination, and an economy geared toward serving society, basic income, and the people.The work has been praised by a number of leading critics and thinkers, with scholars such as David Wingrew and Wright Gopal considering it a work of hope and courageous criticism that dismantles the tools of financial subjugation represented by the dollar. This book is thus a radical intellectual contribution that redirects the debate on the global economy and colonial justice, providing a theoretical and practical framework for reappropriating money as a public and democratic property that serves the well-being of humanity.
