Abstract

The use of social currency in national and international contexts has encouraged scholars to understand its specificities. The most known social currency in Brazil -Palmas - created by Banco Palmas in Fortaleza, presents a paradoxical situation: after fifteen years, its circulation has significantly decreased within its territory while the consumption remains high. This article investigates the circulation of Palmas to understand its flow in the territory and its gradual reduction of use. The article reflects on this experience based on the notion of currency from economic anthropology and from the theory of the gift. The analysis here goes beyond the case of Palmas and present insights able to contribute to the debate on social currency of the Community Development Banks (CDBs) in Brazil as a whole. The research strategies were multi-methodological and can be summarized in two phases. The first phase was an ethnographic immersion in Banco Palmas in January 2012. The second phase was the mapping of monetary circulation in the territory (network analysis tools were used). The results from this research indicate the construction of a philosophy of the use of social currencies by CDBs. The use of the social currency is supported by the confidence of local actors in the actions of Banco Palmas. On a more concrete level, it was identified that the circulation maintenance depends more on symbolic and political senses than on the satisfaction of economic needs.

Keywords:
Social Currency; Community Bank; Banco Palmas.