Canadian Social Science
Crypto Funding Social Projects and Redistribution in a Costa Rican Rural Town
Abstract
The present article explores the interconnections between North-South relationships, transnational gentrification and crypto funding for community projects in the newly glocal, rural community of San Salvador del Barú in Tinamaste, Pérez Zeledón, Costa Rica. Through in-situ observations and semi-structured in-depth interviews, this research seeks to understand the limitations in the use of cryptocurrency donations as well as the possible misuse of them to further reproduce neocolonial global disparities. In doing so, it sheds light on current Costa Rican tourist-migrant-expat phenomenon of land appropriation as well as new socio-cultural relations between locals and foreigners. From a critical Latin American perspective, it offers possible pathways to transforming globalized relationships by tapping into the branch of cryptocurrencies that promises decentralized and accessible funds.
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/13698
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