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6 ‘No Exchange of Money’? The Development of Auroville’s Communal Economy

Abstract

This chapter critically examines the development of Auroville’s communal economic framework, institutions and policies, and how the community’s founding economic ideals have galvanized, underpinned and informed these, and continue to do so. In so doing, it reveals the legal, financial and administrative challenges of prefiguring an alternative economy in a dominant capitalist mainstream, as well as the critical and reflexive nature of Auroville’s utopian practice. Empirically, this chapter contributes a significant case study of alternative and prefigurative economic organization, which is particularly relevant for practices of participatory budgeting and non-monetary forms of provision, universal basic services, and basic income policy programmes.

Abstract

This chapter critically examines the development of Auroville’s communal economic framework, institutions and policies, and how the community’s founding economic ideals have galvanized, underpinned and informed these, and continue to do so. In so doing, it reveals the legal, financial and administrative challenges of prefiguring an alternative economy in a dominant capitalist mainstream, as well as the critical and reflexive nature of Auroville’s utopian practice. Empirically, this chapter contributes a significant case study of alternative and prefigurative economic organization, which is particularly relevant for practices of participatory budgeting and non-monetary forms of provision, universal basic services, and basic income policy programmes.

Chapters in this book

  1. Front Matter i
  2. Contents vii
  3. List of Figures and Tables ix
  4. Glossary xi
  5. About the Author xiii
  6. Acknowledgements xiv
  7. Foreword xv
  8. All Life is Yoga: An Introduction 1
  9. Culture
  10. Auroville Is … 19
  11. A Spiritually Prefigurative Culture: The Uniqueness of Auroville’s Utopian Practice 35
  12. Polis
  13. Divine Anarchy? The Development of the Auroville Polity 57
  14. Spiritually Prefigurative Politics in Practice: An Embodied Account of an Auroville Community Decision-Making Process 80
  15. Economy
  16. ‘No Exchange of Money’? The Development of Auroville’s Communal Economy 101
  17. The Institutional Potential of Prefigurative Experiments: The Evolution of Collective Accounts in Auroville 124
  18. Auroville and Beyond: The Grounded Hopes and Horizons of Spiritually Prefigurative Practice – A Conclusion 146
  19. Afterword 151
  20. A Dream (The Mother, 1954) 153
  21. The Auroville Charter (The Mother, 1968) 155
  22. To Be a True Aurovilian (The Mother, 1971) 156
  23. Notes 157
  24. References 163
  25. Index 177
Prefiguring Utopia
This chapter is in the book Prefiguring Utopia
https://doi.org/10.56687/9781529230802-012

Chapters in this book

  1. Front Matter i
  2. Contents vii
  3. List of Figures and Tables ix
  4. Glossary xi
  5. About the Author xiii
  6. Acknowledgements xiv
  7. Foreword xv
  8. All Life is Yoga: An Introduction 1
  9. Culture
  10. Auroville Is … 19
  11. A Spiritually Prefigurative Culture: The Uniqueness of Auroville’s Utopian Practice 35
  12. Polis
  13. Divine Anarchy? The Development of the Auroville Polity 57
  14. Spiritually Prefigurative Politics in Practice: An Embodied Account of an Auroville Community Decision-Making Process 80
  15. Economy
  16. ‘No Exchange of Money’? The Development of Auroville’s Communal Economy 101
  17. The Institutional Potential of Prefigurative Experiments: The Evolution of Collective Accounts in Auroville 124
  18. Auroville and Beyond: The Grounded Hopes and Horizons of Spiritually Prefigurative Practice – A Conclusion 146
  19. Afterword 151
  20. A Dream (The Mother, 1954) 153
  21. The Auroville Charter (The Mother, 1968) 155
  22. To Be a True Aurovilian (The Mother, 1971) 156
  23. Notes 157
  24. References 163
  25. Index 177
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