Who is Kojin Karatani?

A Japanese philosopher who reads society through what people exchange with one another, and how. The book *Plurality* states that one of its frameworks is inspired by his *The Structure of World History*, and Audrey Tang says that the "X" in RadicalxChange is the X of Karatani's modes of exchange.

Open the book Plurality and the name of a Japanese philosopher turns up in unexpected places: in the footnote to a figure at the heart of the book, and among the endorsements at the front. Audrey Tang, too, names him as someone who strongly influenced her thinking.

In short

Kojin Karatani (柄谷行人) is a Japanese philosopher and literary critic, born in 1941 [1].

He is known for his theory of "modes of exchange", which explains the history of society through how people "exchange" with each other (gifts and return gifts, obeying in return for protection, money and commodities) [2][3]. In December 2022 he was named winner of the Berggruen Prize, an international prize for philosophy and culture. According to the Berggruen Institute's announcement, he is the first person from Asia to receive it [1].

Connection to Plurality

The source of one of the book's frameworks. Chapter 5-0 of the book says that collaboration involves a trade-off between depth and breadth (gaining one means losing some of the other), and divides it into three: "communities" with rich but narrow communication, "states" in between, and "commodities" with thin but broad cooperation. Its footnote reads: "This tripartite division of modes of exchange into communities, state, and commodities is inspired by Kojin Karatani, The Structure of World History". It adds: "Karatani's aspiration to achieve the return of community at a broader scale can be seen as an ambitious example of ⿻." [4] → Collaborative technology

"Regions" joined by interest. A footnote in chapter 4-2 explains that in his book NAM原理 (The Principle of NAM, 2000), Karatani "argues that individuals belong not only to geographical regions but also to global 'regions' based on their interests", and calls this the "rhizomatic association" [5]. → ⿻ Publics

Local currency and NAM. A footnote in chapter 4-3 writes that Michael Linton, who created the local currency system LETS, "later visited Kojin Karatani's home, which sparked the New Associationist Movement" [6]. According to a memoir series on the Asahi Shimbun's book website, NAM was a movement launched in June 2000 with Karatani at its center, and at one point 700 people took part. Participants belonged to overlapping divisions: where they lived, what they were interested in, and whether they were working people or students. NAM dissolved in December 2002 [7]. Ken Suzuki, too, was invited by Karatani and worked on developing NAM's currency system [8]. → Commerce and trust

An endorsement. In his endorsement for the English edition, Karatani wrote: "Audrey Tang and Glen Weyl's project will be effective and meaningful in helping Taiwan (and other countries) move in the direction of a new social democracy." [9]

From Audrey Tang's side

The X in RxC is the X of modes of exchange. In a July 2020 interview, Audrey Tang named Karatani as someone who had influenced her thinking. She said that the "X" in the organization RadicalxChange (RxC) is the "X" of modes of exchange [10].

Is a blockchain X? According to Tang, when Karatani held an event in Taiwan (Tang says she thinks it was 2014), Tang wrote a question card: is a distributed ledger built by unspecified people around the world, like Ethereum or Bitcoin, a realization of X? Karatani, she says, answered that systems like local currencies could move in that direction, but that one must first solve how technology can grow trust between people who do not know each other. This is Tang's account [10].

Tang's four kinds of exchange. In the same interview, Tang explained what she took to be Karatani's basic idea by dividing exchange into four along two axes: whether the other person is someone you know or a stranger, and whether something is given in return or it is free. Sharing freely with people you don't know is "X". Tang gave as an example her practice of telling her views to anyone who comes to her office and publishing the record [10]. In Karatani's own explanation, however, A is gift and return and B is the exchange of obedience for protection; Tang's two-axis arrangement is not how Karatani himself sets it up [2].

Introducing him to Glen Weyl. In an August 2020 interview, Tang said that before the RadicalxChange Foundation was created she got to know Glen Weyl and introduced Karatani's ideas to him, and that the two came together to form the foundation [11]. In a separate 2021 interview she described Karatani as a thinker who "envisions this idea of non rival non exclusive exchange mode" [12].

Main ideas

From modes of production to modes of exchange. Marxism sees the foundation of society in what is made, and how (the mode of production). Karatani held that invisible "powers" such as the state and religion also arise from exchange [2][3].

Mode of exchange A — reciprocity of gift and return (the principle of clan society)
Mode of exchange B — "plunder and redistribution", where obeying earns protection (the state)
Mode of exchange C — commodity exchange (the market)

Karatani says that in modern society these three are bound together in the form of "Capital–Nation–State" [2][3]. → Modes of exchange

Mode of exchange D. A recovered at a higher level. In history it has appeared as universal religions, and as long as A, B and C persist it returns again and again as a force seeking to go beyond them [2].

D comes from elsewhere. In his speech at the 2023 Berggruen Prize ceremony, Karatani looked back on how he had written. Many readers, he said, seemed to take it that D would be realized if people aimed for it, but D cannot be realized by human will. That is why, in Power and Modes of Exchange (2022), he wrote that D comes from elsewhere [3]. In an interview when a revised edition came out in 2026, too, he said in effect that since D cannot be defined or represented, one should not lightly say one is aiming for it, and that thinking of oneself as D's agent leads to violence [13].

What is debated

How Karatani and Tang differ. According to the researcher Sunji Lee, Karatani says that his theory of modes of exchange and Tang's are a little different. Tang combines mode of exchange D and social formation X and calls them "mode of exchange X". And whereas Karatani's X is something that comes from elsewhere, Tang takes the position that it can be realized by building trust through technology [14]. It is worth reading alongside Karatani's words above, that D comes from elsewhere.
How Tang takes it. In a March 2026 dialogue with Hiroki Azuma, Tang said that "mode of exchange D isn't just a prophecy about the future", but "something that can already appear, imperfectly, within certain relationships". It points to people we don't know, "who may not even be born yet", with whom we still want a non-transactional relationship; publishing in the public domain is "essentially leaving a map in the commons". Tang said: "But I do compose my work in the mode of exchange D." [15]
Hiroki Azuma's view. In the same dialogue, Azuma said: "I think Karatani Kōjin's mode of exchange 'X' is very abstract — too idealized." As a longtime reader, he spoke with mixed feelings: Karatani's real richness had lain in grappling with the problems of Japan and Asia, but his theory grew more and more abstract. He then responded that Karatani might be reread through Tang's work [15].

Sources

Berggruen Institute, announcement of the 2022 Berggruen Prize (2022-12-08) — https://berggruen.org/news/annual-berggruen-prize-for-philosophy-and-culture-awarded-to-japanese-philosopher-kojin-karatani
Kojin Karatani, "交換様式論入門" (An Introduction to Modes of Exchange) (2017-12-07, in Japanese) — http://www.kojinkaratani.com/jp/pdf/20171207_jp.pdf
Kojin Karatani Berggruen Prize Remarks (2023-08-02) — https://berggruen.org/news/kojin-karatani-berggruen-prize-remarks
Plurality, 5-0 "Collaborative Technology and Democracy" — https://www.plurality.net/v/chapters/5-0/eng/ ［CC0］
Plurality, 4-2 "Association and ⿻ Publics" — https://www.plurality.net/v/chapters/4-2/eng/ ［CC0］
Plurality, 4-3 "Commerce and Trust" — https://www.plurality.net/v/chapters/4-3/eng/ ［CC0］
"国家と資本への対抗運動NAM　その可能性の中心は：私の謎　柄谷行人回想録㉕" (NAM, a countermovement against the state and capital; Karatani's memoir, part 25) (Kosho Kojitsu, 2025-04-15, in Japanese) — https://book.asahi.com/jinbun/article/15708811
Official explanation of The Nameraka Society and Its Enemies — https://nameteki.kensuzuki.org/book-summary-enjazh-tw
Plurality, endorsements — https://www.plurality.net/
"Digital Press 第四次來訪" (2020-07-24, in Traditional Chinese) — https://archive.tw/2020-07-24-digital-press-%E7%AC%AC%E5%9B%9B%E6%AC%A1%E4%BE%86%E8%A8%AA ［CC0］
"Digital Press 第五次來訪" (2020-08-14, in Traditional Chinese) — https://archive.tw/2020-08-14-digital-press-%E7%AC%AC%E4%BA%94%E6%AC%A1%E4%BE%86%E8%A8%AA ［CC0］
Interview with The Wire (2021-04-22) — https://archive.tw/2021-04-22-interview-with-the-wire ［CC0］
Interview with Kojin Karatani, "「戦争の時代」に考える" (Thinking in an age of war) (Kosho Kojitsu, 2026-05-25, in Japanese) — https://book.asahi.com/jinbun/article/16562765
Diamond Online, interview with Sunji Lee (2025-08-15, in Japanese) — https://diamond.jp/articles/-/370388
"A Dialogue with Hiroki Azuma" (2026-03-15) — https://archive.tw/2026-03-15-a-dialogue-with-hiroki-azuma ［CC0］

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