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Money is the Exchange: From Media Theory to the Governance of Monetary Pluralism in the EU

  • Valentino Cattelan EMAIL logo und Gabriella Gimigliano
Veröffentlicht/Copyright: 3. November 2025
Global Jurist
Aus der Zeitschrift Global Jurist

Abstract

This article deals with the future of money regulation in the EU. Its originality lies in applying media theory to frame a governance model that recognises and fosters an evolving social ontology of plural monetary practices. For this purpose, the study starts from the description of money as ‘market language’ and the acknowledgement of the co-existence of different (digital and non-digital; public and private) monetary practices as a de facto reality in the EU. Embracing an ontology-sensitive approach, the article argues that the principle of subsidiarity can help shaping the future of EU money regulation by promoting a sound ‘conversation’ between the specific identities of these different ‘market languages.’


Corresponding author: Valentino Cattelan, Department of Law, Birmingham City University, Birmingham, UK, E-mail:
A preliminary version of this article was presented in the 7th Biennial RAMICS International Congress on The Future of Money: Democracy, Localism and Inclusion (Rome, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche; 6–9 November 2024), under the title “Money is the Exchange: Marshall McLuhan, Digitalisation, and the Future of Complementary Currencies Between Global Finance and Re-Tribalisation.” The authors wish to express their gratitude for the feedback they received on that occasion. Regarding the preparation of the final version of this article, the contents of these pages are the outcome of full collaboration between the authors; anyway, Part I can be mainly attributed to Valentino Cattelan; Part II to Gabriella Gimigliano. The authors also wish to express their gratitude for the feedback that they received from two anonymous reviewers, whose suggestions helped them to improve the quality of the article in its final version.

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Received: 2025-06-26
Accepted: 2025-10-17
Published Online: 2025-11-03

© 2025 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Heruntergeladen am 4.11.2025 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/gj-2025-0045/pdf
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