Announcing the publication of new research papers in the International
Journal of Community Currency Research
Volume 13 (2009)

www.uea.ac.uk/env/ijccr/


Time for Each Other: Working Towards a Complementary Currency Model to
Serve the Anti-Poverty Policies of the Municipality of Lndgraaf, the
Netherlands
Miranda van Kuik

In 2007, the Dutch municipality of Landgraaf requested an
investigation into whether a community currency could support its anti-
poverty policies. The literature research assembled empirical data on
scrip, LETS and Time Banks. Their effects were evaluated against a set
of specific goals: poverty relief, provision of care, social
integration and return of long-term unemployed to the labour market.
Complementary currencies have still to prove themselves on all
objectives, and the last one is particularly hard to achieve. However,
for the most part, the systems being investigated have not been set up
in a professional way or with longer-term finances available. With
these prerequisites in place, and a formal, trustworthy organisation
taking the initiative, a complementary currency could still be a
useful policy instrument. A Time Bank-like construction would work
best, with a professional broker and a limited working area.


Change Takes Time: Exploring Structural and Developmental Issues of
Time Banking
Lee Gregory

This paper draws out key conclusions from a recent research project
into a voluntary sector time bank in the Welsh Valleys. The aim of the
research was to explore the structure and organisational issues of
time banks in relation to the development of co-production. Such an
analysis attempts to make clear how time bank development fosters the
values of co-production as is claimed by research and literature on
time banks. The argument in this paper is that whilst time banks can
be set-up for a range of purposes, not always tied to co-production,
the practices and ideas embedded in the time bank mechanisms do
gradually develop the values of co-production. However this is a slow
process and requires a successful, initial time bank pilot project to
encourage further support for expanding the practice. For those who
advocate the development of co-production this paper provides
information of time bank development which can support their efforts
to promote the idea within the public sector.


The Impact of Community Currency Systems on Gender Relations in Rural
Northeast Thailand: A Hybrid Social Audit – Gender Analysis Approach
David Walker

This paper is an initial response to calls for an investigation of the
impact of Community Currency Systems (CCSs) on gender relations in a
developing country context. It thereby proposes the question of
whether or not CCSs support existing gender relations or transform
them. The proposition is that the unique characteristics of a
localised currency may influence a variety of economic and social
characteristics in rural communities to the point where they affect
the wellbeing of men and women differently. In conclusion, the
research offers three learning points; firstly, the use of Seyfang’s
(1997) Social Audit Approach together with gender analysis frameworks
do offer a viable means of generating primary information; secondly,
the two study areas show that the most obvious effect of the CCS on
gender relations regards the strengthening of women’s social capital;
thirdly, that the implementation of a CCS can positively influence
gender relations in other areas and should be more fully investigated.


and a book review of:

Stiansen Endre and Guyer Jane I. (1999) Credit, currencies and
culture: African financial institutions in historical perspective
Reviewed by Tite Ngoumou

------------------------------
Dr Gill Seyfang
RCUK Academic Fellow
School of Environmental Sciences
University of East Anglia
Norwich NR4 7TJ

tel: +44(0)1603 592956
personal: http://www.uea.ac.uk/env/~e175/
department: http://www.uea.ac.uk/env/

*** NEW BOOK ***
The New Economics Of Sustainable Consumption: Seeds of Change by Gill
Seyfang (2009), Palgrave Macmillan.

Editor, International Journal Of Community Currency Research
http://www.uea.ac.uk/env/ijccr/
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