Intangible Economies

Contributors: Juan A. Gaitàn, Melanie Gilligan, Hadley + Maxwell, Candice Hopkins, Olaf Nicolai, Patricia Reed, Monika Szewczyk, and Jan Verwoert. Editor: Antonia Hirsch.

Intangible Economies broadens the notion of economy beyond its financial dimension by considering it as a general system of exchange. First developed for a 2011 conference, the book’s premise is that personal relationships are produced by economic activity, and that conversely, affect, and in particular desire, generates economic transactions. The book speculatively investigates the role that these “affective transactions” play in modes of representation and cultural production. The anthology’s essays address topics ranging from the mediaeval sale of indulgences and the potlatch, to the iconography of banknotes.

• Introduction
  by: Antonia Hirsch