Show Me the Money: Building Public Trust through Central Bank Museums
Lecture by Prof. Juliet Johnson (Department of Political Science, Mc Gill University – Canada)
This talk examines how central banks attempt to build public trust in money through strategically employing what I call the stability narrative. This narrative asserts that central banks: 1) can maintain the value of money; 2) can maintain the security of money; 3) represent the nation; and 4) have grown increasingly professional and sophisticated – and thus better at their jobs – over time. I explore the stability narrative by studying its expression in central bank visitor centers/museums, drawing on interviews/site visits to 18 leading central bank museums as well as qualitative content analysis of the websites of the over 150 central bank museums that currently exist around the world. Museums tell stories; they distill, teach, and privilege the beliefs of their creators. As such, museums represent an ideal vehicle for understanding the ways in which central banks attempt to build public trust by promoting their ability to govern money. This task has become more difficult and more important over time, as central bankers increasingly rely upon communicative strategies in order to defend national and international monetary stability.
News from the research center
New series “Vertrauensfragen” in the Frankfurter Rundschau initiated by Hendrik Simon
Democracy thrives on debate - if it serves the joint search for solutions. There is often a problem with this cooperation. The new FR series “Vertrauensfragen”, initiated by Hendrik Simon (Research Institute Social Cohesion (RISC) Frankfurt location at Goethe University's Research Centre Normative Orders ), examines why this is the case and how we can do better.
more information ›Untrustworthy Authorities and Complicit Bankers: Unraveling Monetary Distrust in Argentina
Moreno, Guadalupe (2025): “Untrustworthy Authorities and Complicit Bankers: Unraveling Monetary Distrust in Argentina”. Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies Discussion Paper 25/3.
more information ›Klimaethik - Ein Reader
Presentation of the book with Lukas Sparenborg (Research Associate at the Institute of Political Science at Goethe University) and Prof. Dr. Darrel Moellendorf (Professor of International Political Theory and Philosophy at Goethe University, Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Johannesburg, Member of the Research Centre Normative Orders)
more information ›Utopie und Aufbruch der 1968er – Was von politischer Rebellion und individueller Selbstbefreiung geblieben ist
The panel discussion with Rainer Langhans, Christa Ritter, who has been a member of Langhans' self-awareness group since 1978, and the social philosopher Martin Saar is dedicated to utopian ideas that emanated from the 1968 movement and sheds light on its ideals, impulses, individual and socio-political after-effects.
more information ›Territorial Justice by Lea Ypi
Workshop on the new book by Lea Ypi (LSE). With, among others: Andrea Sangiovanni and Ayelet Shachar.
more information ›A different view: The relevance of victims' perspectives on policing and racism
Europa in einer multipolaren Welt – Wie kann die EU den Herausforderungen gegenüber Großmächten begegnen?
Impuls von Prof. Dr. Nicole Deitelhoff mit anschließender Podiumsdiskussion
more information ›Does deliberative democracy have a future in the age of oligarchs, autocrats and patriarchs?
On June 3, Prof. Simone Chambers will give a lecture on the value of democracies and the future of the form of government.
more information ›Klimaethik. Ein Reader
Sparenborg, Lukas; Moellendorf, Darrel (Hrsg.) (2025) : Klimaethik. Ein Reader. Suhrkamp.
more information ›