The Economy of Shillings
After reading this week’s book, The Great Transformation by Karl Polanyi and commentary on it by Jason Clark I realize there are so many different paths this blog might venture down.
- We might look at the way Evangelicals have contributed to and have lived in the “eschatological space” of capitalism and Evangelicalism.[1]
- We might look at the way the market was “disembedded from social constraints” due to self-regulating markets.[2]
- We might look at how “trade had become linked with peace.”[3] Yet, we still seek peace in a variety of volatile regions around the world.
- We might look at the stark utopia of the self-adjusting market.[4]
- We might look at fascism, Marxism, Speenhamland, gold standard, etc.
All of those are distinct paths that we may walk down comparing Polanyi to other modern authors and ideas. Yet, as I read the book, I was struck by the fact that I have lived in two very distinct economic systems and not everyone has had the privilege of being able to do this. So, I want to take my thoughts down the path back to East Africa where I lived for five years in a small Islamic village.
I gave my employee 1,000/- Kenyan shillings (roughly $10) and instructed him to go to the market on my behalf to purchase an item for 500/-. He asked me for a 500/- bill so that he did not need to get change. Having small bills was always a priority for me but also so hard to maintain. I instructed him to just bring back the change the next day when he came to work. His answer has changed my perspective on money ever since. “If I go home with 500/- in my pocket someone will have a need (like going to the hospital, paying a debt, etc.) and they will ask me for assistance. Since I have the money, I will be obligated to give it to them even though it is your money. Please, give me a smaller bill. I don’t want to be in debt to you for 500/-.” I told him to use the money to the best of his judgment. I never saw the change.
Polanyi recognized the different factors in a tribal society versus the individualized world he was writing from. He writes,
Take the case of a tribal society. The individual’s economic interest is rarely paramount, for the community keeps all its members from starving unless it is itself self-borne down by catastrophe, in which case interests are again threatened collectively, not individually. The maintenance of social ties, on the other hand, is crucial.[5]
The village economy was so different than the one I currently live in. It was probably closer aligned to the European way of life pre-Industrial Revolution. Most of the village works in their fields for the day and then eats that evening. The only export they have is mangoes, sugarcane, and coconuts. The import market is limited as well. Yet, they are victims to the global market manipulations. There were multiple times we were unable to access simple items such as flour, butter, milk, sugar, etc. all because of the lack of government regulations and corruption. If we traveled 50 miles south to the Tanzanian border, we would be able to purchase these items with ease.
Religion plays a significant role in the village as well. If individuals maintain their ties to the mosque and maintain their Islamic beliefs, then the community will rally together to make sure that the family is supported. Yet, if a family member steps outside the boundary markers of Islam, then they are outside the boundary of support. Polanyi addressed how local parishes worked in similar ways under Speenhamland Laws but then, “Capitalism arrived unannounced.”[6] In similar ways, Capitalism and a materialistic mindset has fallen onto this coastal village where everyone had gone from having no electricity or land-phones to access to the world market via cell phones within a two-year period. Suddenly, our village friends were exporting content via social media.
After living in two different economic systems, I have learned the positives and the negatives of both. Yet, as Christians, aren’t we called to live within a third economic system? A system where it is better to give than to receive. Or a system that gives generously with our right hand without letting our left hand know what we are giving? Jesus instructed his followers to live in this third economy with our eyes and hearts focused upwards. “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.”[7]
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[1] Jason Paul Clark, “Evangelicalism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnosis of Pathogeneses in the Relationship” (Faculty Publications, Portland, OR, Portland Seminary, 2018), 142, https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1131&context=gfes.
[2] Clark, 127.
[3] Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time, 2nd edition (Boston, Mass: Beacon Press, 2001), 15.
[4] Polanyi, 3.
[5] Polanyi, 48.
[6] Polanyi, 93.
[7] New Living Translation (NLT) Africa Study Bible, 3rd ed. (India: Oasis International Limited, 2016) Luke 6:20.
About the Author
Adam Cheney
I grew up in California, spent five years living along the beautiful coast of Kenya and now find myself working with refugees in the snow crusted tundra of Minnesota. My wife and I have seven children, four of whom have been adopted. I spend my time drinking lots of coffee, working in my garden, and baking sourdough bread.8 responses to “The Economy of Shillings”
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Adam,
I so appreciate your story of your time in Africa. After submitting my post on Monday, my wife and I on Tuesday took a day to get away and ended up in a small village about 45 minutes from where I live. It is the village of Zoar, Ohio that was settled by Lutherans who left Germany in the early 1800s to avoid having to go to war. Their small community was considered a commune. Each person had a job within the community, bakery, tanning hides, making musical instruments, caring for livestock, etc. They did allow outside visitors and ultimately it was the outside influences especially during and after the civil war that led to the community members voting to dissolve the communal lifestyle. This reminds me of the tribal living that Polanyi and you discuss. Given our current culture do you think that this type of communal/tribal living is even possible?
BTW, I informed my classes last year that more people have cell phones than have toilets.
Hi Adam, I completely resonate with your tales of Africa and the need for small bills. This is part of the culture I still have trouble understanding, but I don’t fight against it. I appreciate your emphasis on tribal society. I can’t remember if there was a church in your vicinity in East Africa, but if so, in what ways did the Christian community support those who may have stepped outside the boundaries of traditional tribal support?
Hi Adam,
Please say more about third economic system! I feel this will be a helpful paradigm for me to reframe my own inner angst. From my own time in East Africa and Afghanistan (among other travels) I am forever struggling for equilibrium in my personal ‘economy.’ You mentioned two practices already in my grasp – I need more ideas, more methods, expanded thinking! Thank you.
Hi Adam, I appreciate your way of living an alternative way in following Jesus. Years ago I learned a concept that says when you don’t have something you don’t know what you are missing. Once you have it, it’s hard to give it away. Do you think that once someone has a certain way of living that it is hard to give more for fear of losing what they have? It makes me wonder how hard it would be to following Jesus in an economic way when it meant you knew what you would be giving away and doing without. Any thoughts on that aspect of it?
Hey Adam. I appreciate your journey and how you navigate the various places you have lived. As you mentioned the third dimension (the church) our economic system and the way we regulate can be suspect at times. How do you feel the church should handle itself in light of how you described the church’s mandate.
Adam, I so appreciate the unique perspective you bring to my attention when you share about your time abroad. Please keep doing this.
I wonder several things:
How do you think Polanyi’s ideas about the disembedding of markets from social constraints apply to the changes you witnessed in your village? How do you think these changes affected your village?
And how can we practically participate in the “third economic system” while living in this capitalist world?
Adam, I appreciate your insights on living within two economic systems and your call to create a “third” system. Similar to Debbie’s question, how do you envision this third economic system, grounded in Christian values, coexisting with or challenging the existing capitalist frameworks? Considering your experiences in East Africa, how can it effectively respond to the growing influence of global market forces in communities?
Hi, Chad, thank you for your posts. In other words, from those of us from the underdeveloped countries, capitalism is from the western worlds. You mentioned that you have experience a different way of living in while you were in Africa, it resonates with me. My Micronesian culture, is part of me wherever I am. Now that I have been here in the U.S., I have been leaving in two cultures – the capitalistic way of life and the micronesian culture of looking out for everyone. Not to mention the third aspect, which is how should be ‘a Christian way of combining these two way of life. Thanks again for your posts.