An economic anthropology of computer-mediated non-monetary exchange in England

This thesis presents two studies of computer-mediated non-monetary exchange. The Internet has improved the potential for previously unconnected people to organise into interest groups with the intent of meeting offline. This has resulted in a range of organisations emerging with the explicit aim of...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Harvey, John
Format: Thesis (University of Nottingham only)
Language:English
Published: 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35266/
_version_ 1848795039645302784
author Harvey, John
author_facet Harvey, John
author_sort Harvey, John
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description This thesis presents two studies of computer-mediated non-monetary exchange. The Internet has improved the potential for previously unconnected people to organise into interest groups with the intent of meeting offline. This has resulted in a range of organisations emerging with the explicit aim of helping people to give and share resources. These organisations typically reject money and markets, insisting that social interaction should occur through generosity alone. The first study presents a netnography and depth interviews which reveal how technology is used to enact and influence the management of identity, partner selection, ritual normalisation, and negotiation of property rights. The findings have significant implications for the design and management of systems that encourage non-monetary forms of collaborative consumption. In the second study a longitudinal social network analysis reveals how the social structures involved in these systems have no obvious historical precedent. This has implications for the way in which the social sciences should conceptualise reciprocal economic arrangements. It also raises some sociological implications for the possibility of designing economic systems in the absence of money. Finally, a new approach is proposed which advocates diachronic analysis of property rights as a means to explain how markets and institutions that try to subvert markets exist alongside each other.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T19:25:45Z
format Thesis (University of Nottingham only)
id nottingham-35266
institution University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
institution_category Local University
language English
last_indexed 2025-11-14T19:25:45Z
publishDate 2016
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling nottingham-352662025-02-28T13:31:16Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35266/ An economic anthropology of computer-mediated non-monetary exchange in England Harvey, John This thesis presents two studies of computer-mediated non-monetary exchange. The Internet has improved the potential for previously unconnected people to organise into interest groups with the intent of meeting offline. This has resulted in a range of organisations emerging with the explicit aim of helping people to give and share resources. These organisations typically reject money and markets, insisting that social interaction should occur through generosity alone. The first study presents a netnography and depth interviews which reveal how technology is used to enact and influence the management of identity, partner selection, ritual normalisation, and negotiation of property rights. The findings have significant implications for the design and management of systems that encourage non-monetary forms of collaborative consumption. In the second study a longitudinal social network analysis reveals how the social structures involved in these systems have no obvious historical precedent. This has implications for the way in which the social sciences should conceptualise reciprocal economic arrangements. It also raises some sociological implications for the possibility of designing economic systems in the absence of money. Finally, a new approach is proposed which advocates diachronic analysis of property rights as a means to explain how markets and institutions that try to subvert markets exist alongside each other. 2016-12-13 Thesis (University of Nottingham only) NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en arr https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35266/1/PhD%20-%20John%20Harvey.pdf Harvey, John (2016) An economic anthropology of computer-mediated non-monetary exchange in England. PhD thesis, University of Nottingham. economic anthropology human-computer interaction HCI altruism ethnography netnography social network analysis
spellingShingle economic anthropology
human-computer interaction
HCI
altruism
ethnography
netnography
social network analysis
Harvey, John
An economic anthropology of computer-mediated non-monetary exchange in England
title An economic anthropology of computer-mediated non-monetary exchange in England
title_full An economic anthropology of computer-mediated non-monetary exchange in England
title_fullStr An economic anthropology of computer-mediated non-monetary exchange in England
title_full_unstemmed An economic anthropology of computer-mediated non-monetary exchange in England
title_short An economic anthropology of computer-mediated non-monetary exchange in England
title_sort economic anthropology of computer-mediated non-monetary exchange in england
topic economic anthropology
human-computer interaction
HCI
altruism
ethnography
netnography
social network analysis
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35266/