Reapplication or replication? transformations of technology and of the palmas social currency throughout the e-dinheiro platform

Abstract

From the perspective that social technologies (ST) are built with community participation and are not simply solutions transferred from one reality to another, and given the transformations that the Palmas social currency has caused, and is still causing, in the field of solidarity finance in Brazil, we raise the following question in this article: taking the process of reapplication as a fundamental characteristic of ST, in the digital format of the Palmas social currency, is this process still possible and effective? To answer it, we take the case of Palmas, social currencies recognized as social technologies, presenting their history and their digitization process. To do this, we have drawn on the literature on ST and that relating to the case under analysis, as well as considering the information obtained during the authors' career within the solidarity finance movement. In addition, we have data from a national study that is still underway, of which the authors are an integral part. Our study indicates that the process of reapplication is possible, but that it is facing difficulties in maintaining its democratic and emancipatory character. We also identified that the platform, despite the significant benefits perceived by all and its potential for scaling up and serving local development public policies, may lose its ST character when it comes to the reapplication process. Our study is especially relevant at this time, given the recent draft law 4476/23 which aims to regulate social currencies in the country, in a clear lack of knowledge of the history, context and concept of social currency and social technologies.