{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,4]],"date-time":"2026-05-04T23:22:52Z","timestamp":1777936972110,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,2,21]],"date-time":"2019-02-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1550707200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["New Media &amp; Society"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2019,8]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>This article assesses the rationale for India\u2019s November 2016 demonetization, in terms of its origins and impact over the following year. I argue that this intervention was conceived and understood as part of a larger international monetary experiment. The article draws upon international media commentary, impact assessments by Indian scholars and the professed goals of the Government of India. Having established a direct link between demonetization and an advancing \u2018cashless agenda\u2019 around the world, I situate Narendra Modi\u2019s Digital India programme as the putative foundation for a transactional economy. Drawing upon ethnographic studies exploring the everyday experience of India\u2019s year of living digitally, this article raises the critical question of who must, or indeed can, bear the transaction costs of this digital utopia. In conclusion, I argue that the rapid expansion of digital money situates these concerns at the heart of social and cultural, as much as economic, analysis.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/1461444819831324","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,2,22]],"date-time":"2019-02-22T07:36:35Z","timestamp":1550820995000},"page":"1697-1713","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":37,"title":["A great leap of faith: The cashless agenda in Digital India"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9692-4421","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Adrian","family":"Athique","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"The University of Queensland, Australia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,2,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-1461444819831324","volume-title":"Aadhaar: The Biometric History of India\u2019s 12-Digit Revolution","author":"Aiyar S","year":"2017"},{"key":"bibr2-1461444819831324","volume-title":"Paper Presented at social transactions in Digital India","author":"Anand A","year":"2017"},{"key":"bibr3-1461444819831324","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4324\/9780429425110-1"},{"key":"bibr4-1461444819831324","unstructured":"Basu K (2016) In India, black money makes for bad policy. The New York Times, 27 November. Available at: http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/11\/27\/opinion\/in-india-black-money-makes-for-bad-policy.html (accessed 27 November 2016)."},{"key":"bibr5-1461444819831324","unstructured":"BBC (2016a) How black money saved the Indian economy, 22 February. Available at: www.bbc.com\/news\/world-asia-india-35610332 (accessed 22 February 2016)."},{"key":"bibr6-1461444819831324","unstructured":"BBC (2016b) India currency bombshell, 8 November. Available at: http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/business-37915359 (accessed 8 November 2016)."},{"key":"bibr7-1461444819831324","unstructured":"BBC (2016c) Indian Rupee ban: currency move is \u2018bad economics, 14 November. Available at: http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-asia-india-37970965 (accessed 14 November 2016)."},{"key":"bibr8-1461444819831324","unstructured":"Butani M (2016) Demonetisation decoded: time to embrace a cashless economy: global trend moving that way. Financial Express, 30 November. Available at: https:\/\/www.financialexpress.com\/opinion\/demonetisation-decoded-time-to-embrace-a-cashless-economy-global-trend-moving-that-way-demonetisation-gdp-cashless-economy-indian-economy\/459780\/ (accessed 30 November 2016)."},{"key":"bibr9-1461444819831324","unstructured":"Cashless India (2017) Digital payment methods. Available at: http:\/\/cashlessindia.gov.in\/ (accessed 8 August 2017)."},{"key":"bibr10-1461444819831324","volume":"1","author":"Castells M","year":"1996","journal-title":"The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture: The Rise of the Network Society"},{"key":"bibr11-1461444819831324","unstructured":"Digital India (2017) Digital India. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India. http:\/\/www.digitalindia.gov.in\/ (accessed 8 August 2017)."},{"key":"bibr12-1461444819831324","unstructured":"Doshi V (2016) Women bear the brunt as finances and families are undone by India\u2019s cash crisis. The Guardian, 22 December. Available at: https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/global-development\/2016\/dec\/22\/india-cash-crisis-women-bear-brunt-finances-families-undone (accessed 6 January 2017)."},{"key":"bibr13-1461444819831324","unstructured":"Doshi V, Allen K (2016) Your money\u2019s no good: Rupee note cancellation plunges India into Panic, The Guardian, 11 November. Available at: https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2016\/nov\/10\/rupee-note-cancellation-panic-in-india-banks-500-1000 (accessed 4 January 2017)."},{"key":"bibr14-1461444819831324","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.worlddev.2017.05.035"},{"key":"bibr15-1461444819831324","unstructured":"D\u2019Souza R (2018) Cashless India: getting incentives right. ORF Occasional Paper. Mumbai, India: Observer Research Foundation. Available at: https:\/\/www.orfonline.org\/research\/cashless-india-getting-incentives-right\/"},{"key":"bibr16-1461444819831324","volume-title":"Homo Hierarchicus: The caste system and its implications","author":"Dumont L","year":"1980"},{"key":"bibr17-1461444819831324","volume-title":"Capitalism and freedom","author":"Freidman M","year":"1962"},{"key":"bibr18-1461444819831324","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4324\/9781315160979"},{"key":"bibr19-1461444819831324","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4337\/9781849809290.00043"},{"key":"bibr20-1461444819831324","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/S0022278X00008089"},{"key":"bibr21-1461444819831324","first-page":"1552","volume":"2","author":"Hart K","year":"2005","journal-title":"Kritikos"},{"key":"bibr22-1461444819831324","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4337\/9781849809290.00018"},{"key":"bibr23-1461444819831324","first-page":"66","volume-title":"The Indian Media Economy, Vol. 1: Industrial Dynamics and Cultural Adaptation","author":"Hill D","year":"2018"},{"key":"bibr24-1461444819831324","unstructured":"Holmes F (2016) Modi\u2019s demonetisation is a cure worse than the disease for India, 2 December. 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Available at: http:\/\/www.internationalaffairs.org.au\/australian_outlook\/indias-demonetisation-in-practice\/ (accessed: 4 January 2017)."},{"key":"bibr27-1461444819831324","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/02255189.2016.1140022"},{"key":"bibr28-1461444819831324","volume-title":"The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money","author":"Keynes JM","year":"1936"},{"key":"bibr29-1461444819831324","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4337\/9781849809290.00019"},{"key":"bibr30-1461444819831324","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/00220388.2011.621944"},{"key":"bibr31-1461444819831324","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1215\/9780822375173"},{"key":"bibr32-1461444819831324","volume-title":"White Paper on Black Money","author":"Ministry of Finance","year":"2012"},{"key":"bibr33-1461444819831324","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4324\/9780429425110-9"},{"issue":"30","key":"bibr34-1461444819831324","first-page":"10","volume":"45","author":"Ramanathan U","year":"2010","journal-title":"Economic and Political Weekly"},{"key":"bibr35-1461444819831324","unstructured":"Ranade A (2017) Role of \u2018fintech\u2019 in financial inclusion and new business models. 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Available at: https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/commentisfree\/2016\/nov\/17\/the-guardian-view-on-indias-demonetisation-modi-has-brought-havoc-to-india (accessed 6 January 2017)."},{"key":"bibr41-1461444819831324","unstructured":"The New York Times (2016a) Crowds line up at India\u2019s banks to exchange banned rupee notes. The New York Times, 10 November. Available at: https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/11\/11\/world\/asia\/india-rupee-ban-narendra-modi.html (accessed 11 November 2016)."},{"key":"bibr42-1461444819831324","unstructured":"The New York Times (2016b) \u2018India\u2019s strange cash problem. The New York Times, 17 November. Available at: http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/11\/18\/opinion\/indias-strange-cash-problem.html (accessed: 4 January 2017)."},{"key":"bibr43-1461444819831324","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/oso\/9780199494620.001.0001"},{"key":"bibr44-1461444819831324","volume-title":"The Higher Learning in America","author":"Veblen T","year":"1957"},{"issue":"30","key":"bibr45-1461444819831324","first-page":"58","volume":"53","author":"Vivek S","year":"2018","journal-title":"Economic & Political Weekly"},{"key":"bibr46-1461444819831324","unstructured":"Wall Street Journal (2016) India\u2019s black-money experiment shines bright for bonds: Indian bonds appear to be the big winner in the cash-draining move. Wall Street Journal, 14 November. 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