Mohamed Haddad interviewed Myriam Amri at the end of the conference about her ongoing research (Arabic):
In her exposé titled the Making of the Dinar producing the State in Postcolonial Tunisia, Myriam Amri explores the narratives around the process of the creation of the dinar as well as the first years of the activity of the central bank.
Through the review of archived press articles and first central bank reports in the 1950 post-independence period, Myriam Amri reflected on how the narratives around money are linked to the decision-makers’ imaginaries of what the reality of the economy is and ought to be at that time. She reflects on how visions of what the economy should be produced preemptive talk about presumed but backed future evolutions of the state of the economy.
Asked about the process which led to the adoption of a national currency (the dinar) in Tunisia unlike other french colonies where the CFA Franc persisted, the speaker answered that the making the dinar was a historical process of negotiation with the colonial power and transition rather than a single event abrupt event. The transition to the Dinar was also conditioned by the presence and supervision of french experts in the central bank. The transition process was operated very progressively over a period of two years, which unfolded in the introduction of Tunisian banknotes.
She took part in a panel on African Monetary Sovereignty seminar on November 2019 in Tunis:
Who is Myriam Amri?
Myriam Amri is a PhD candidate in the joint degree in Anthropology and Middle Eastern Studies (Harvard University). Her research focuses on the social life of money in poor neighborhoods in Tunis. She is particularly interested in how money informs local narratives, changing subjectivities and the relation to the natural environment.
