ALT currencies – community, local -banking -finance   

see also

>Money, Community Networks, Community Currency, Economic Sustainability

academia.edu – gg/pdf 2020 Network Infrastructure as Commons – Economic Sustainability of CNs (v1)Introducing Community Currencies – by Jens Martignoni

Economic_Sustainability_of_CNs_v1_IntrodDownload

Executive Summary – This deliverable introduces Community Currencies (CCs) as a novel strategy toward economic sustainability of Community Networks (CNs). It does so by developing an analogy between community networks and community currencies as two separate local action and self-organization schemes that have evolved in parallel until today.We define 6 key characteristics of CNs and CCs that allow the identification of important differences and similarities between the two models. Based on this comparison, we describe in more detail two success stories of each domain as a case study, i.e. Guifi.net and Sardex.net, which will empower the design of interesting combinations between the two models. Such combinations will provide opportunities for local businesses to become part of a local economy that can give them direct access to local customers, but also help sustain the CN infrastructure on which this activity takes place. At this stage, we propose four possible areas of research and action:1.

The design of a community currency for an existing CN, combining ideas from the design ofSardex.net and a novel commons-based currency, the District Currency, with focus on Guifi.netas our main target case study;2.

The design of a process that will allow a CN, again with focus on Guifi.net, to become part of a wider local economy run through a community currency compatible with the current efforts of the municipality of Barcelona toward this end;3.

The design and implementation of suitable educational games that will help the dissemination of some core ideas behind the envisioned approach both to practitioners and the wider public;4.

The development of suitable models and tools that will facilitate the design process and demonstrate the possible positive effects of combining CNs and CCs.In this context, we analyse a set of important challenges that we need to address to this end: the lack of understanding of the reasons behind the need to separate between Internet access and local services offered in a CN; the sometimes undesirable quantification of voluntary activities implied by certain CCs and their unpredictable effect on paid work and economic sustainability; the hype of cryptocurrencies that shift the focus from the hard work required to build trust and community tomagic solutions brought by technology; and finally the significant amount of human resources required to make such systems successful – systems that are difficult for the protagonists to take the risk and engage in the long-term process, combining mechanisms complex to understand and difficult to implement in practice.We conclude with a few concrete steps, the most important being our presence in the International Conference on Social and Complementary Currencies in Barcelona in May 2017, titled ÒMoney,Awareness and Values for the Social ChangeÓ. A great opportunity to open the discussion in a city whose municipality has recently decided to move forward with a plan to introduce its own currency.

source/see also

netcommons.eu 2020 – netCommons is a Horizon2020 research project, which follows a novel transdisciplinary methodology on treating network infrastructure as commons, for resiliency, sustainability, self-determination, and social integration. Project partners have expertise in engineering, computer science, economics, law, political science, urban, media, and social studies; and close links with successful Community Networks like guifi.net, ninux.org, and sarantaporo.gr.

netcommons.eu/biblio

localfutures.org 2023 PROMOTING LOCALIZATION GLOBALLY – Economics of Happiness

Local Futures is a pioneer of the worldwide localization movement. We raise awareness about the power of ‘going local’ as a key strategy for restoring ecological, social and spiritual wellbeing. Our films, books, toolkits, blog, podcast, webinars, workshops, conferences and campaigns are helping to build an international movement for systemic change.

Economics of Happiness Blog

en.wikipedia-about Local_Futures

academia.edu 2014 Alternatives to Money-As-Usual in Ecological Economics: A Study of Local Currencies and 100 Percent Reserve Banking – by Kristofer Dittmer

academia.edu gg/pdf 2012 Local currencies for purposive degrowth? A quality check of some proposals for changing money-as-usual – by Kristofer Dittmer

>Environmental Science, Green Economics, Ecological Economics, Localization, Money, Degrowth, Localization, Utopian socialism,Monetary reform


This article provides a quality check of the degrowth movement’s proposal of local currencies as tools for advancing socially equitable and ecologically sustainable degrowth. The article draws comprehensively upon mainly English-language academic research about four widespread local currency types – LETS, time banks, HOUR currencies, and convertible local currencies (CLCs) – to assess their performance with respect to four degrowth-related criteria: community-building, advancement of alternative values in economic exchange, facilitation of alternative livelihoods, and eco-localization. LETS have been found to support alternative livelihoods under quite uncommon conditions, and contribute indirectly to eco-localization by moderately facilitating informal resale, repair, and sharing of commercially produced goods, although their burdensome management and confinement to small memberships limit their usefulness. Time banks help expand social networks, and are best at reaching the socially excluded. However, they are confined to unskilled personal services and dependent on grant funding. HOUR currencies do not stand out with regard to any criteria, but may have a minor capacity to promote local purchasing. CLCs are best at attracting local businesses, but no significant evidence of their said capacity to localize supply chains has surfaced as yet, and their business-friendly design works to the detriment of other criteria. In sum, existing research provides a very weak basis for advocating local currencies as tools for purposive degrowth. Local currencies are here categorized as two utopian socialist approaches: the behind-society’s-back variety of LETS and HOUR currencies, and the appeal-to-elites variety of time banks and CLCs. Marx and Engels’s critiques of these approaches remain valid: successful monetary systems require resources that are not available behind society’s back, notably the power to levy taxes and designate by which means they can be paid. Local currencies that appeal for elite support – without mass popular backing – have shaken off most radical connotations, and are vulnerable to changing policy agendas. Given the present historical conjuncture of popular outrage against the banking sector, this paper argues that the degrowth movement would improve its chances of contributing to purposive degrowth by prioritizing government-centred ecological reform of the monetary system over local currencies.

academia.edu gg/pdf 2014 Alternatives to Money-As-Usual in Ecological Economics: A Study of Local Currencies and100 Percent Reserve Banking – by Kristofer Dittmer

Abstract – This thesis aims to contribute to the debate in academia and beyond concerning the case for certain alternatives to the monetary systems of existing capitalist economies. Two families of alternative monetary organization are researched; local currencies (or synonymously,community currencies) and 100 percent reserve banking (C-PeRB). The present work focuses mainly on assessing their contemporary relevance to potentially wide-ranging improvements in social equity and ecological sustainability. The methodological approach isissue-driven interdisciplinarity. The introductory chapter argues that there is much scope for the development of ecological economics perspectives on alternatives to money-as-usual. A brief exposition of the contribution of Frederick Soddy to the ecological economics of money is offered, arguing that future research along these lines should involve more consideration of the politics of money.Chapter 2 introduces the degrowth movement and its advocacy of local currencies as toolsfor advancing socially equitable and ecologically sustainable degrowth. The chapter reviews the academic research about four widespread local currency types – LETS, time banks,HOUR currencies, and convertible local currencies – to assess their performance with respect to four degrowth-related criteria: community-building, advancement of alternative values in economic exchange, facilitation of alternative livelihoods, and eco-localization. Weconclude that existing research provides a very weak basis for advocating local currency networks as tools for a purposive degrowth transition, i.e. an intentional departure from growth-based society meant to pre-empt further environmental destruction and human suffering. The chapter develops the application to such networks of the Marxian critique of utopian socialism.Chapters 3-5 present a case study of Venezuela’s communal currency experiment, which is unique worldwide as a central government initiative. In view of the experiment’s lack ofsuccess, we discuss its foundation on strong cultural optimism and on confused concepts of the nature and origins of money. It is argued that government support has been a mixed blessing, helping to spread a single, unadaptive model of isolationist-egalitarian ‘barter’systems. The present condition and future relevance of Venezuela’s communal currencies is discussed in terms of the government’s stated goal of transitioning to ecosocialism. The outcome of the experiment suggests that initiating a transition to ecosocialism requires the huge disincentive of near-zero gasoline prices to be tackled before ecologically sensible alternative economies can be constructed in Venezuela.Chapter 6 assesses the case for C-PeRB – essentially a proposal to make money creation anexclusive privilege of the state – as an element of a steady-state economy. We identify three groups of green arguments in favour of C-PeRB, namely that it would help to: (1) limit economic growth by constraining new investments by the availability of savings; (2)potentially elevate environmental considerations in decisions about resource allocation by increasing the role of the democratic state as an economic actor; (3) drastically cut debt levels to counter a presumed growth imperative associated with a ‘debt-based’ bank money system. We offer criticisms of each of these points, and suggest that the green case for C-PeRB is not very solid as it stands.The concluding chapter argues that we may distinguish between the relevance of local currencies to a purposive degrowth transition vs. involuntary degrowth in the context of along-term crisis of global capitalism. The existing track record of local currencies is arguably more relevant to the former scenario, and their role in the second is more speculative.Furthermore, by offering a brief example concerning C-PeRB, we suggest that proponents of particular visions of socio-ecological transition, such as the steady-state economy, should deepen their engagement with political theory of social change. In sum, more efforts need to be made to raise the level of debate about what alternatives to existing capitalist monetary systems are theoretically and practically possible

academia edu pdf 2012 Local currencies for purposive degrowth? A quality check of some proposals for changing money-as-usual – by Kristofer Dittmer

centerforneweconomics.org LOCAL CURRENCIES IN THE 21ST CENTURY: UNDERSTANDING MONEY, BUILDING LOCAL ECONOMIES, RENEWING COMMUNITY By CHRISTOPHER LINDSTROM + SUSAN WITT

lietaer.com/   2010 examples of successful community currencies

Examples and Case Studies

academia.edu  2012   Local_currencies_for_purposive_degrowth_-  A_quality_check_of_some_proposals_for_changing_money-as-usual    by Kristofer Dittmer

This article provides a quality check of the degrowth movement’s proposal of local currencies as tools for advancing socially equitable and ecologically sustainable degrowth. The article draws comprehensively upon mainly English-language academic research about four widespread local currency types – LETS, time banks, HOUR currencies, and convertible local currencies (CLCs) – to assess their performance with respect to four degrowth-related criteria: community-building, advancement of alternative values in economic exchange, facilitation of alternative livelihoods, and eco-localization. LETS have been found to support alternative livelihoods under quite uncommon conditions, and contribute indirectly to eco-localization by moderately facilitating informal resale, repair, and sharing of commercially produced goods, although their burdensome management and confinement to small memberships limit their usefulness. Time banks help expand social networks, and are best at reaching the socially excluded. However, they are confined to unskilled personal services and dependent on grant funding. HOUR currencies do not stand out with regard to any criteria, but may have a minor capacity to promote local purchasing. CLCs are best at attracting local businesses, but no significant evidence of their said capacity to localize supply chains has surfaced as yet, and their business-friendly design works to the detriment of other criteria. In sum, existing research provides a very weak basis for advocating local currencies as tools for purposive degrowth. Local currencies are here categorized as two utopian socialist approaches: the behind-society’s-back variety of LETS and HOUR currencies, and the appeal-to-elites variety of time banks and CLCs. Marx and Engels’s critiques of these approaches remain valid: successful monetary systems require resources that are not available behind society’s back, notably the power to levy taxes and designate by which means they can be paid. Local currencies that appeal for elite support – without mass popular backing – have shaken off most radical connotations, and are vulnerable to changing policy agendas. Given the present historical conjuncture of popular outrage against the banking sector, this paper argues that the degrowth movement would improve its chances of contributing to purposive degrowth by prioritizing government-centred ecological reform of the monetary system over local currencies.

 

base.socioeco.org.pdf   2000 A Pictorial History of Community Currency Systems  by Stephen DeMeulenaere

 

labourlist.org/2020/02/  Wirral launches ethical community wealth building strategy