Author: IJCCR

Associate Professor in Institutions and Local Development, International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam

Announcement

IJCCR

New Editor

The International Journal of Community Currency Research welcomes its new Editor, Dr. Jens Martignoni.

Jens Martignoni was born 1963, trained as an engineer at the Technikum Winterthur, Switzerland, has an MBA in Nonprofit-Management from the Faculty of Economics and Sociology at the University of Freiburg, Switzerland and a PhD in Cooperative Economics from the University of Cologne, Germany. He is a lecturer and senior researcher at ZHAW the Zurich University of Applied Sciences, School of Management and Law, Winterthur, Switzerland. He has been working for many years on the development of alternative economic forms and better organizational models for currencies and new money systems. He is the author of the book “Das Geld neu erfinden” (reinventing money) and investigated and invented on complementary and community currencies since 1992.

He has published in the IJCCR: “A new approach to a typology of complementary currencies” and other articles.

New Issue IJCCR!

IJCCR

Volume 25 of the International journal of Community Currency Research is now complete with the second yearly issue.

IJCCR 25 (2021) Issue 2

In this issue you will find the following articles.


Managing complementary currencies and the blockchain technology:
a conversation with Bernard Lietaer

Marek Hudon and Camille Meyer		1-14

I Buoni di Riace: A complementary currency as a strategic tool to resist the mafia and transform the migration crisis into an opportunity

Barbara Priolo		15-27

Degrees of consensus and experts’ views on Community and Complementary Currencies

Sanel Alberto Contreras Ramirez		28-41

The thoroughly disaggregated quantity equation

Samo Kavčič		42-62

Understanding the recent dynamics of local currency initiatives in Switzerland

Christoph Stamm		63-76

Book review:
Bazzani, G. (2020) When money changes society: the case of Sardex money as community

Jérôme Blanc		77-80

New article: Paradigms in currency research

IJCCR

‘Monetary Plurality’ and ‘Currencies for an Alternative Economy’: Two paradigms of complementary currency research

Rolf Schroeder

Independent Author. Email: rolfschroeder.h@t-online.de

Abstract

Many practitioners and researchers in this field consider money to be the centrepiece of complementary currencies. This paper identifies a second line of thinking, through which the discourse on an ‘alternative economy’ had a significant influence on the development of these social innovations during the 1980s and 1990s. This article discusses two questions: The first one concerns the influence of, and the relationship between these two lines of thought. A monetary focus gradually superseded earlier interpretations of these systems and eventually occupied a dominant position. Is there sufficient common ground between researchers of cryptocurrencies and traditional complementary currencies to share a single discourse network? The second question concerns the potential of local currencies with strictly limited convertibility. Against the background of an impending recession this article offers a perspective of how newly designed complementary currencies can become viable elements of an alternative economic structure beside the capitalism economy.

Keywords

Complementary Currencies, Monetary Diversity, Alternative Economy, Money, Boundaries.

Article Schroeder

To cite this article: Schroeder, R. (2020) ‘‘Monetary Plurality’ and ‘Currencies for an Alternative Economy’: Two paradigms of complementary currency research’ International Journal of Community Currency Research Volume 24 (Summer 2020) 101-115; http://www.ijccr.net; ISSN 1325-9547; DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.15133/j.ijccr.2020.015

New article on money sociality

IJCCR

An investigation of the social and credit theory of money, focussing on the contemporary situation of monetary sovereignty

Chikako Nakayama* and Manabu Kuwata**

*Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, 183-8534, 3-11-1, Asahicho Fuchu-shi, Tokyo, Japan. nakac@tufs.ac.jp

** Fukuyama City University, 721-0964, 2-19-1, Minato Machi, Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture,Japan. m-kuwata@fcu.ac.jp

Abstract

This paper explores the fundamental importance of sociality to monetary sovereignty, investigating the apparent contrast between the state and the market in theories of money. Sociality deserves attention given the recent increase since the 1990s of denationalised, regional and, more recently, crypto currencies, which are different from legal tender. First, we examine the classification of metalism and chartalism, that is, the commodity theory of money on one hand and the chartal theory of money on the other (Section 2). The former has been dominant in the history of economic thought, focussing on catallactics, or the function of money as a medium of exchange, while the latter lays more importance on the function of money as a means of payment and relies on literature in history and anthropology. We then concentrate on the meaning of the institution of payment and debt, with which a person can participate in the society to which he/she belongs (Section 3). People’s belief in the perpetual validity of this institution is indispensable for monetary sovereignty. Further, we investigate the idea of the social credit given a hundred years ago, when the trust in this institution and the state itself was severely lacking, as an important application of the sociality of money. In conclusion, we show that sociality among people, embodied in the existence of monies and currencies, cannot be reduced to the market nor to the state.

Keywords

chartalism, monetary sovereignty, means of payment, crypto currency, social credit

Article Nakayama and Kuwata

To cite this article: Nakayama, C. and Kuwata, M. (2020) ‘An investigation of the social and credit theory of money, focussing on the contemporary situation of monetary sovereignty’ International Journal of Community Currency Research Volume 24 (Summer 2020) 89-100; http://www.ijccr.net; ISSN 1325-9547; DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.15133/j.ijccr.2020.014

New article: Digital CCS in Brazil

IJCCR

Mumbuca e-dinheiro and the challenges of requirements, codes and data digital community currency governance

Luiz Arthur S. Faria*, Fernando G. Severo**, Henrique L. Cukierman***, Eduardo H. Diniz****

*Fundação Getúlio Vargas and Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, luizart@gmail.com

** Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, severo@cos.ufrj.br

*** Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, hcukier@cos.ufrj.br

****Fundação Getúlio Vargas, Brazil, eduardo.diniz@fgv.br

Abstract

This paper discusses the governance process of digital complementary currencies (DCCs). Our reflections are based on contributions from fields such as the anthropology of economy and currencies, especially from the perspective of monetary plurality and governance of commons, and also on concepts developed in the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS). The research effort accompanies the material changes of the Mumbuca DCC (Maricá, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), connected to the Brazilian Network of Community Development Banks (CDBs), which has accumulated more than one hundred experiences since 1998. We use three different approaches to investigate the Mumbuca digital platform: the processes related to the requirements of the digital platforms adopted, the tensions concerning its closed architecture model and finally the currency circulation data – now digital, and relatively traceable. The paper explores the impossibility to dissociate, on the one hand, the ‘social practices’ enunciated by the communities related to the local currency proposals (and connected to the idea of money as a commons) and, on the other, the materialities present in digitalization processes. Finally, calling for a sociotechnical approach, it outlines some of the challenges faced by the CDBs Network, towards treating the DCC as a commons.

Keywords

Digital community currencies; Social currencies; Commons; Governance

Article Faria et al.

To cite this article: Faria, L., Severo, F., Cukierman, H. and Diniz, E. (2020) ‘Mumbuca E-dinheiro and the challenges of a digital community currency governance: requirements, codes and data’ International Journal of Community Currency Research Volume 24 (Summer 2020) 77-88; http://www.ijccr.net; ISSN 1325-9547; DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.15133/j.ijccr.2020.013

New article: CCS and agent based modelling

IJCCR

Complementary Currency localisation in closed contours of economic exchange: Theoretical background and experimental verification

Dmitry Berg* and Olga Zvereva**

* Graduate School of Economics and Management, Ural Federal University, Ekaterinburg, Russia, BergD@mail.ru

** Engineering School of IT, Communications and Control Systems, Ural Federal University, Ekaterinburg, Russia, OM-Zvereva2008@yandex.ru

Abstract

The issue of basics for successful functioning of a complementary currency has gained utmost importance in the recent years because of the crisis phenomenon in the world economic domain. In the discussed research, the focus has been put on the structural aspect of the problem with the network approach having been used as a theoretical background. During the initial stage of the research, a mathematical model of a local municipal economy has been engineered. Using this economic model and a number of other economic local system models, it has been revealed that closed exchange contours could be found in every modelled system. It has been found that the number of closed exchange contours in an economic system is greater than in the similar random or social system, and exactly these contours form a structural basis for system’s sustainability. To evaluate the effect of complementary currency introduction, an agent-based computer model has been coded. This computer model has proved the efficiency of complementary currency introduction. Complementary money supports functioning of the economy, and, in case of the lack of real money, can improve and speed up economic processes flowing in the system. The described results have been received while computer simulation with implementation of the agent-based computer model and have been verified through the experiments in the real local economic system.

Keywords

Agent-based computer model, closed contour, network approach, sustainability.

Article Berg and Zvereva

To cite this article: Berg D. and Zvereva, O. (2020) ‘Complementary currency localization in closed contours of economic exchange: theoretical background and experimental verification’ International Journal of Community Currency Research Volume 24 (Summer 2020) 64-76; http://www.ijccr.net ISSN 1325-9547; DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.15133/j.ijccr.2020.012

New article: CCS in Japan

IJCCR

Characteristics of Community Currency that Contribute to Endogenous Regional Activation: Based on case studies of three community currencies: Ma~yu, Tengu and Awa Money

Han Meng*, Akira Ueda**

* Graduate School of Engineering, Chiba University, Japan. E-mail:Lighthousemeng@yahoo.co.jp

** Chiba University, Japan. E-mail:aued@faculty.chiba-u.jp

Abstract

In this paper we reviewed Community Currencies (CC) that contribute to endogenous regional revitalization. 49 CC cases, collected by a nationwide questionnaire survey to the operating groups, are classified to 5 types by applying mathematical quantification theory class III and cluster analysis on the viewpoint of endogenous development theory. We focused on the ‘community endogenous collaboration type’ of CC and carried out field investigations on three selected examples that pertain to this type. The obtained contents were arranged using the KJ method to clarify the characteristics of this type. (1) The ‘endogenous community collaboration’ type of CC frees the people from being a ‘consumer’ and gives the possibility of transforming into ‘prosumer¬=sei-katsu-sha’. (2) In Japan, the citizens’ group operating this type of CC actively implement various events & projects, thereby facilitating the re-identification and utilization of resources that have potential in the area. (3) By using such CC for exchanging and participating in such activities, it creates chances for participants from a wide range of age groups to interact with each other. While inheriting the wisdom of the elderly, it contributes to the formation of common concerns and values in the community and trigger new networks within the region.

Keywords

Endogenous regional activation, community currency, prosumer¬=sei-katsu-sha.

Article Meng and Ueda

To cite this article: Meng, H. and Ueda, A. (2020) ‘Characteristics of Community Currency that Contribute to Endogenous Regional Activation: Based on case studies of three community currencies: Ma~yu, Tengu and Awa Money’ International Journal of Community Currency Research Volume 24 (Summer 2020) 54-63; http://www.ijccr.net; ISSN 1325-9547; DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.15133/j.ijccr.2020.011

New article: CCS in Finland

IJCCR

When is money not a currency? Developments from Finland of proto-community currencies

Marcus Petz*

* Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Email: Marcus.kit.petz@student.jyu.fi

Abstract

The article is a case study of several digitally based schemes recently operating in Finland where some functions and properties of money are evident. While working effectively as designed, they do not fully meet the criteria of a well-functioning community currency. The schemes include: sysmä, a digitally based hyperlocal system of account introduced by the rural Sysmä municipality; Pisteet kotiin®, a housing association points system in the city of Tampere, copied from a working Dutch model; BookMooch, a global book-swapping site that has extended its operations throughout Finland. Explored in the article are the institutional enabling and inhibitory factors and implications for and from other community currency projects. Data was collected by participant observation and semi-structured interviews in all schemes. Additional media surveying, internet webscrapes and online surveying supplemented this data. Along with the demarcation problem between currency and money, the technical issues about scale and purpose, if such schemes are to develop their offerings to become fully fledged currencies, are considered. The concept of “current-see” proposed by the MetaCurrency Project, is used as a lens to evaluate if the schemes achieve their purpose and whether further development is desirable or possible. The concept of a proto-community currency is developed.

Keywords

Green economics, community of use, CC terminology, integral theory, pattern language.

Article Petz

To cite this article: Petz, M. (2020) ‘When is money not a currency? Developments from Finland of Proto-Community Currencies’ International Journal of Community Currency Research Volume 24 (Summer 2020) 30-53; http://www.ijccr.net; ISSN 1325-9547; DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.15133/j.ijccr.2020.0010

New article on Eusko (France)

IJCCR

The Eusko’s trajectory. Hypotheses to understand the success of the complementary local currency of the Northern Basque Country

Dante Edme-Sanjurjo*, Mathilde Fois-Duclerc**, Yannick Lung***, Julien Milanesi**** and Fabienne Pinos*****

* Euskal Moneta, Bayonne, France. eusko.dante@yahoo.fr

** Centre Emile Durkheim, UMR 5116 CNRS Sciences Po Bordeaux & MSHA, Bordeaux, France. mathilde.foisduclerc@gmail.com

*** GREThA, UMR 5113 CNRS Université de Bordeaux & Crisalidh, MSHA, Bordeaux, France. lung@u-bordeaux.fr

**** CERTOP, UMR 5044 CNRS Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France. julien.milanesi@iut-tlse3.fr

***** Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour, Bayonne, France. fabienne.pinos@iutbayonne.univ-pau.fr

Abstract

Launched in January 2013, the Eusko (complementary local currency of the Northern Basque Country in France) became the first local currency in Europe five years later, with the equivalent of more than one million euros in circulation, surpassing the Chiemgauer in Germany and the Bristol Pound in England. This paper aims to explain the development of this complementary local currency and to formulate hypotheses about the factors for its success. Part 1 gives a statistical overview of the Eusko’s trajectory, analysing the distribution of this currency in its chronological and spatial dimensions. Part 2 focuses on the specificity of the territorial context, which is characterized by a high density of the associative and cooperative movements. Part 3 details the mobilizing organizational devices that contribute to the Eusko’s success.

Keywords

Basque country, complementary local currency, digitalization, Eusko, France.

Article Edme-Sanjurjo et al.

To cite this article: Edme-Sanjurjo, D., Fois-Duclerc, M., Lung, Y., Milanesi, J. and Pinos F. (2020) ‘The Eusko’s trajectory. Hypotheses to understand the success of the complementary local currency of the Northern Basque Country’ International Journal of Community Currency Research Volume 24 (Summer 2020) 14-29; http://www.ijccr.net; ISSN 1325-9547; DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.15133/j.ijccr.2020.009