National Currencies and National Identities

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Abstract
In what ways do national currencies contribute to a sense of national identity? Building on the insights of 19th-and early 20th-century observers, the author suggests that national currencies might foster national identities in five ways: (a) providing a vehicle for nationalist imagery that constructs a sense of collective tradition and memory, (b) acting as a common medium of social communication that may facilitate the “communicative efficiency” of members of the nation and encourage similar frameworks of thought, (c) creating collective monetary experiences that can bolster the feeling of membership in a national community of shared fate, (d) contributing to a sense of popular sovereignty, at least insofar as the national currency is managed in a way that corresponds with the people's wishes, and (e) strengthening the kind of quasi-religious faith that is associated with nationalism, especially when the currency is managed in a stable manner.

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