Transformative Social Innovation in Finance and Money: invitation to exchange!

Have you ever considered where your money comes from? That money in itself, apart from how it is spent, could hamper sustainability efforts, through the way it is created and the role banks and loans play in that? Money and finance structures are not given, but designed by us and can be designed differently. Inge Schrijver wrote her dissertation about alternative designs, and invites you to think along, challenge her results, and inspire her with new insights.

Inge has studied nine initiatives in the Netherlands that change the way money and finance work, through the lens of Transformative Social Innovation as presented in the 2016 framework and propositions. Inge formulated their Narratives of Change, which institutions they aim to challenge and which they reproduce. These factors are used as basis to analyse for instance the (potential) interactions between them, connecting to a debate about taking fundamental disagreements or convergence as starting point for transitions. The initiatives studied are: Good Finance, Social Trade Organisation (STRO), Stichting Full Reserve, Vereniging Samenwerkende Kredietunies, Ons Geld, Triodos Bank, Bitonic, Qoin, Dam – Rotterdams Geld.

Finally, Inge found that while the initiatives are doing vital work to bring the money and financial system in motion, a strategy to deal with the power of the sector seems absent. It is argued that this poses a severe limitation on the chances of having a meaningful transformative impact and some suggestions are made to tackle this.

Furthermore, Inge aims to contribute to the development of the Transformative Social Innovation theory. She uses the cases to explore (a.o.) the necessity of challenging Institutional Logics for establishing transformative change, the relation between local and wider change, between transformative ambitions and finding regulatory space, and the contestation over when something is perceived as transformative or not.

Invitation to co-create!

To develop and challenge her research, Inge shares her MA dissertation with you and invites readers to read the document, browse through it and add comments, thoughts, critical remarks, questions, or suggestions! You can download the dissertation here and find the open document here.

Inge studied the MA Economics for Transition at Schumacher College during the past year. She has a critical outlook on current economic structures and on the ways we can organise ourselves differently to create a more fair, sustainable, and live-able world. With a background in climate change campaigning, she now looks at the financial sector as important blockage and opportunity for change. She wants to dedicate her time to transform money from being a powerful master in the hands of a few into a tool in service of the many. Moreover, in all aspects of her life, she tries to contribute to and embody a new economy. For both she welcomes feedback and suggestions, so please feel free to connect on LinkedIn.