Navigating the Nexus: Blockchain technology, social Innovation, and complementary digital currencies

Paola Raffaelli; Vicky Nowak

doi:10.3989/arbor.2025.813.2922

Autores/as

Paola Raffaelli IQS School of Management, Universitat Ramón Llull https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2016-717X
Vicky Nowak Manchester Metropolitan University https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6611-2169

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3989/arbor.2025.813.2922

Palabras clave:

monedas digitales complementarias, tecnología blockchain, paradigmas de innovación social, gobernanza digital

Resumen

Este artículo explora las tensiones entre formas democráticas y tecnocráticas de innovación social en el contexto de las monedas digitales complementarias. A través de un estudio de caso etnográfico en profundidad sobre Moneda PAR, una moneda complementaria basada en blockchain en Argentina, examinamos cómo diversos agentes —activistas de base, actores políticos, académicos y desarrolladores de software— colaboraron en el diseño de una innovación social financiera orientada a la inclusión económica. Basándonos en la tensión entre los paradigmas de innovación social democrática y tecnocrática, nuestro análisis revela que, si bien la tecnología blockchain permitió superar limitaciones clave de iniciativas anteriores como los Clubes de Trueque, también introdujo nuevas dependencias respecto de expertos técnicos. Mostramos cómo las motivaciones en conflicto y el poder desigual sobre las herramientas tecnológicas alteraron los procesos de gobernanza y minaron la sostenibilidad a largo plazo de la iniciativa. Con ello, el artículo contribuye a los estudios sobre digitalización e innovación social, al destacar cómo las tecnologías, aunque ofrecen potenciales inclusivos, también pueden reproducir asimetrías de poder.

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