Vous consultezHow environmental awareness can be practical and funny while puzzling economists: exchange networks, parallel currencies & free bazaars in Greece

AuteurIrene Sotiropoulou[1] [1] Acknowledgements: I am grateful to: Ms Lydia Koniordou and...
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University of Crete (Greece) isotiropoulou@econ.soc.uoc.gr

This paper belongs to a larger research project entitled “Exchange Networks and Parallel Currencies: Theoretical approaches and the case of Greece”, which studies economic activity without the use of any official currency. The criteria used to include a phenomenon into the object of the research have been: (i) the transactions take place without the use of any type of money or the currency used in the transactions is not official, e.g. not created by a state authority; (ii) the transactions, even those who just give away stuff for free, are not performed within the framework of charity; (iii) the transactions are not performed among friends or relatives because of their relation of kinship or friendship.[2] [2] Of course, in some cases there are already or there are...
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2 By the term “exchange networks” we mean structures which facilitate non-monetary exchange for their members and they are either of general nature or specialised in one sector of activity. The term free-exchange bazaar (χαριστικó−ανταλλακτικó παζάρι) is the one used for bazaars where people can bring things (clothes, petty machines, shoes, toys, books, CDs, furniture, etc.) to exchange them or just give them away and take anything they believe it is useful to them. The free networks are online only; their members notify when they want to give something away for free or when they need anything that might be available but not yet announced online, and they get instantly notified when something is disposed by any network member.

3 By “parallel currencies” we mean any currency used by people in transactions, without this being official in any country. A parallel currency might have only a virtual or digital appearance (e.g. units credited in a computer database) or it might take a physical appearance (e.g. notes issued by the currency users). There are several types of parallel currencies, but one could distinguish them into three main categories:[3] [3] Those categories are rather schematic. Most current schemes...
suite (i) time banks[4] [4] For more information, see www. timebanks. org & http:/ / timebank. org. uk...
suite where all transactions are accounted in terms of working hours without having various prices for different types of work; (ii) virtual currencies like Local Exchange Trading Systems[5] [5] For more information, see http:/ / www. letslinkuk. net...
suite or the Swiss Wirtschaftsring[6] [6] For more information, see http:/ / www. wir. ch/ index. cfm?BFE9B56235A311D6B9940001020761E5. ...
suite in which the parallel currency is an accounting unit created and eliminated according to production and use/consumption of a product and services – and of course in this type of currency, there is the possibility for a variety of prices; (iii) currencies which take material form but at the same time are managed by a committee or the entire community (like Ithaca Hours[7] [7] For more information, see http:/ / www. ithacahours. com...
suite or the Chiemgauer currency[8] [8] For more information, see http:/ / www. chiemgauer. info...
suite) and their quantity and redemption are linked to the entire local or community economy and not to the economic activity of each of its users as producers and consumers. The important feature of parallel currencies is that they have no (positive) interest rate, so loans are without interest payments and currency accumulation is not encouraged.
Therefore, the research project examines parallel currencies, exchange networks and free bazaars, most of which has emerged and developed at the very beginning of the 21st Century, but particularly with the onset of the 2008 “Global Financial Crisis” and then the 2009 “Greek Sovereign Debt Crisis”. Moreover, some sui generis schemes have been included, despite the fact that they cannot be categorized into any of the already mentioned scheme types. This paper also explores the potential environmental issues within the schemes studied in the context of the challenges this same activity creates for economic theory.

Methodology of research

4 The research is a three-stage project which combines fieldwork and theoretical study. Mixed qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection have been selected in order that a more global and detailed image of this economic activity is concluded out of the research results. These combinations (fieldwork and theoretical study, qualitative and quantitative methods) have been necessary because the related literature is very limited and the schemes studied are choices and activities that cannot be easily explained, given that there is not any thoroughly elaborated theoretical framework in economics to explain such activity.

5 In the field, in both the preliminary and the first stages of the project, there have been used qualitative/ethnographic methods; mostly observation, observation by participation, and document analysis. The first stage of the project, which started in April 2010, includes several interviews with scheme organisers or members that have a global view of each initiative, and it has been conducted by the use of a list of open semi-structured questions. Before that (but also parallel to the formal-interview stage[9] [9] It is amazing the pace by which new issues come up almost...
suite) more than a year has been spent on contacting the schemes and discussing with co-ordinators and members about the schemes – which was the preliminary stage of the research. Those open discussions were not recorded, but they have been extremely important, along with the entire preliminary stage of the project in forming some theoretical arguments that could be explored in the first stage of the field research.

6 The second stage of research, which has taken place since May 2011, is dedicated to quantitative data collection (where this is possible). Between the first (qualitative) and the second (quantitative) stage of the project, a first attempt has been made to map the schemes, using their membership as a mapping criterion, so that one can see how the schemes expanded in Greece in autumn-winter 2010 (Sotiropoulou, 2011).

7 This paper presents findings from the mapping stage of the project as an attempt to discuss the theoretical issues that arise from the schemes’ activities, and from the preliminary case study of the schemes. This paper focuses chiefly on theory with the aim of providing some understanding about how people in real economy choose to perform their economic activity quite beyond what economic academic literature might have taught us to expect.[10] [10] See also for this Akerlof & Shiller (2009, pp. 3-4,...
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8 Whether the research findings will permit the construction of a pattern model for this economic activity is not yet clear because the iterative “research-findings-research” approach can be never-ending. For this reason, it has been crucial to keep the methodology flexible and ready to adapt to issues that findings raise iteratively. As a result, the subject-matter of the research itself “defines” the methods which are most appropriate for understanding and explaining the schemes studied.[11] [11] For the nature of inquiry in economics, see particularly,...
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In terms of theory, this means that if the researcher does not find answers in the economic literature concerning the phenomena studied, she uses texts originating in other disciplines with intention to explain in economic terms the schemes she studies. In addition, the researcher uses economic concepts as stated or narrated by the scheme participants and the schemes as collectives themselves, because one must accept the possibility that both practical and theoretical knowledge might spring from social and/or collective activity, no matter whether this has been mentioned in academic texts so far.[12] [12] This possibility of knowledge springing from grassroots...
suite Therefore, after having great difficulties in applying either the neoclassical subjective theory of value or the labor theory of value, either liberal or Marxist (Sotiropoulou, 2010, pp. 13-14), we realized that the questions we face are more simple and much more difficult than we could have imagined; i.e. what are those people doing? Why? Are they doing anything that is “economic” or has any “economic” implications?

The existing literature[13]

[13] For a more detailed presentation of literature findings...
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9 Gesell (1906) on the theory about “rusting” money, which would be a medium of exchange only, is used extensively in discussions about parallel currencies. According to Silvio Gesell, money needs to maintain its value and should be regularly stamped after the money holder has paid a duty (negative interest) to the issuing body. The technical term for this idea is “demurrage”. Gesell’s purpose was to help workers face a monetary system which was allocating wealth away from its poor producers. However, no actual parallel currency in Greece is using Gesell’s idea to apply demurrage on the currency.

10 Gesell’s views attracted the attention by Keynes himself, who seems to have considered them at least worthy of discussion. His critique that Gesell did not give a solution for liquidity preference was rather inconsistent with Gesell’s entire theory of demurrage money. Nevertheless, Keynes captured the problem of land speculation that would arise after money’s value structure changed – which is one of the issues that actual discussion about Gesell’s theory cannot avoid.[14] [14] For Keynes’ views about Gesell and his theory, see Keynes...
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11 In the 1990s, the views of Gesell were further elaborated by Kennedy (1975), who criticises the geometric growth of economy due to the structure of the monetary system and comments on how this affects the lives of people and the environment. Another environmentally aware view is by Goerner et al. (2010) who apply the resilience principle found in nature onto the monetary system and supports this with the existence of several currency systems running parallel to each other.[15] [15] See also Goerner et al. (2009). ...
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12 Douthwaite (2004) integrates parallel currencies into a theory of sustainability, where they are the financial tools for attaining four sustainability targets: repeatable production cycles, stable economy, simple life and renewable energy resources. Thus, he proposes that the sustainable financial structures will consist of different (parallel) currencies to perform different functions of money and that money should be created by its users only. Further, Soder (2008) proves that parallel currencies are enhancing environmental sustainability through localisation of economic activity. This feature is well supported by the extensive field research done by Seyfang (1996, 2001) in several UK parallel currency schemes.

13 Of course, Greek schemes do not fit the “green dominated image”. The “green” character of the Norwegian schemes discussed by Gran (1998) might have deterred many Greek people from participating. One would say that most Greek schemes could find more connections to the views expressed by Dalla Costa (2007) who considers food to be a “common good” and she examines how this principle translates into safeguarding various other fundamental common goods, like biodiversity, freshness, healthiness and quality of food as well as the ‘knowability’ of the food production cycle. On the other hand, North (2007) considers parallel currencies and other non-monetary activity like Freecycle networks, to be alternative economic spaces or at least possible to be so in the future. Henderson (1996, p. 83) considers parallel currencies and “production systems based on elaborate barter, reciprocity and redistributive schemes” as “highly refined technology of software variety”. After having outlined parallel currencies in economies through history, Henderson (1996, p. 286) states that “These non-money and scrip-based economies are leading indicators of transition to a much more diverse socially and ecologically compatible future”.

14 While studying transaction patterns, Biggart & Delbridge (2008) distinguish four different systems of exchange; price system, associative, moral (where parallel currencies belong, according to the authors) and communal systems (where barter and co-operatives belong). To this view one could add Oh (1989)’s view that, under certain conditions, barter exists even in an economy with a generally accepted medium of exchange. On the other hand, Diquattro (2007) defines moral economy as people’s attempt to prevent the market economy from dominating local markets, thus, according to this view, both value and socially necessary labour stem from the competition inherent in market capitalism – while Vlachou (2002) seems to agree with this interpretation of value.[16] [16] Vlachou (2002, pp. 196-7) also quotes her personal communication...
suite Moseley (2005), however, asserts that Marxist theory still cannot satisfactorily resolve the value problem of pure non-commodity money.

15 Adding an ecological dimension to value, nature is considered to be the ultimate source of meaning for Consesa-Sevilla (2006), who states that value cannot be partial but referring to the whole only. This exposes the false sense of empowerment consumers and labourers experience because of their (monetary) income. Close to this view, Hornborg (1992) uses ideas from thermodynamic physics to explore the contradictions of modern economy and society and how modern ideas about value, labour and nature are constructed in order that industrial production seem more valuable than nature and life itself, and how this same production structure has substituted human needs as the aim of the economy.
Zelizer (2001), on the other hand, uses “thick” archival and historical data to grasp the struggle over the use and meaning of money among several agents and/or groups within the same society, class or even household. Blanc & Fare (2010) see such struggle as giving special meanings on money amounts or tokens which are supposed to be identical to each other. This approach provides the idea that people are capable of giving new meanings and redefining economic tools, no matter what economic theory is in academic books and journals.
Another approach in parallel currency literature is that of examining currencies created by their users as innovations in both technological and social terms. Blanc and Fare (2010, pp. 17, 19-20) point out that these innovations question the mainstream development model. In social terms, they mobilise diverse agents and resources in order to achieve a “federating project” through co-operation and co-ordination. Particularly there is the role of parallel currencies in supporting environmental sustainability, Longhurst & Seyfang (2011, pp. 4-5, 6-13) who distinguish among currencies which have explicit environmental aims and currencies that deliver environmental benefits and might not be intended as such, although parallel currencies are considered as having important sustainability functionalities. What is important in this approach is the nature of the grassroots technological or socio-technical innovations: a) they might emerge from non-traditional sites and b) social movements and other civil society actors might also be important for the development of such innovations (Longhurst, Seyfang, 2011, p. 18). Till now, this approach concerns parallel currencies only, but one could use similar notions to examine other phenomena, like exchange networks and free bazaars.

Possible theoretical approaches

16 The above mentioned literature provides the research project with some interesting ideas but not with any concise arguments that could explain a major part of the economic activity studied. Moreover, given that the research project has not been concluded yet, it could be absurd to stick with one explanation only, even if this could seem plausible at some point.

17 However, even since the beginning of the first stage of the research (April 2010), it was clear that it was impossible to conduct research without theory at all. Thus, three theoretical arguments have been constructed to explain the activity studied and to provide with an analytical framework that will (hopefully) permit answering some of the questions raised by the study[17] [17] The examination of alternative explanations for an economic...
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The crack – Η ρωγμή

18 The crack is the first sign from which one… can predict an evolution of things. We do not usually pay attention to the crack. What does the crack shows? It shows a conflict of opposite things: whether… they are social propensities, or… big social inequalities, or it is huge arrogance that cannot think of its own destruction, e.g. it is the indication of great contradictions that have not yet been overtly expressed.[18] [18] We have not found any literature in social sciences that...
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19 The first theoretical construction is the notion of “crack” or “ρωγμή”. This notion emerged from Professor Stathakis’ own discussion and notes over the schemes we study in this project and by “crack”/“ρωγμή” we mean that those schemes consist of breaking points for the capitalist economy, as it has occurred in Greece since the late 20th Century. Therefore, this notion can be applied on fundamental dissident views of the schemes and their participants in comparison to the mainstream economy and economic theory; about scarcity and non-scarcity, about whether people have freedom not to starve in any case and to be able to access quality and nutritious food, about what is valuable and whether value cannot be measured, about humans’ connection with nature while covering their needs.

20 Moreover, the fact that in several cases, economic activity does not only appear well separated from the social one, but it becomes “a” social activity among other, changes the entire idea about the economy as it is perceived in the modern (western) world. In western societies, the economy is the space where people compete with each other over scarce resources and where most people do not have any command on the terms and conditions of their activity, e.g. their work, which they have to perform in order to cover some of their needs. It might be a crack that people in several schemes are searching for ways to turn their activity (no matter how hard work it might consist of) into something that is non-competitive and actually not forced upon them.

21 Another issue is whether these multiple market structures created by the schemes might prevent the main market from working as it should or as the liberal theory wants it; i.e. as a self-regulating and free [from societal control] market. Neale (1957) asserts that in a markets-system, whenever some of the markets start to work in a non-self-regulating manner, the entire system ceases to be self-regulating. So, the question might be whether the schemes are the participants’ attempt to intervene with conventional markets (which claim or try to be self-regulating) and establish some control over the existing supply-demand-prices mechanism.[19] [19] One could mention at this point the Great Transformation...
suite This of course raises the question whether the schemes are one more necessary impurity of the evolving capitalist economy, rather than a dissident activity against to (or in rupture) with the mainstream economy.[20] [20] See, for the “impurity principle” of capitalism, Hodgson...
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Finally, to the notion of the crack one could add Holloway (2010), according to which the crack might be any activity that does not (or attempts not to) conform to capitalist economic structures and ideas concerning labour. However, although one could easily trace anti-capitalist characteristics in the schemes studied, this is not because of the anti-capitalist discourse of the schemes. Quite the opposite, this would be an interpretation of the schemes done by the researcher[21] [21] There are schemes who adopt anti-capitalist arguments but...
suite if she assumed that the crack is unidimensional and necessarily a socially “positive” or “alternative” phenomenon. Nevertheless, the important contribution by Holloway in this case is that he points out that a “crack” exists where a social activity sets the agenda not in response to another social phenomenon but in an original way, focusing not on reaction to a previous situation, but on exploring the needs of the people who perform the activity.[22] [22] This idea of “re-setting the agenda” is perhaps the...
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Simmel’s philosophy of money and Bateson’s ecology of the mind

22 In Simmel ([1900] 2004), despite clear views on the specific features of money, there is no clear stance towards money and its role within the economy and society. Leyshon and Thrift (2005) view Simmel as having a schizophrenic[23] [23] When I first read this critique, I thought that this notion...
suite position towards money which led us to turn to Bateson (1972), which gives Simmel’s work a new meaning. Bateson (1972) has a theory on schizophrenia which consists of the idea that this condition is created after a person is constantly exposed to situations of double bind. This happens when the same person receives by the same sender two contradictory messages about doing or not doing something. The double bind situation leads the message receiver to be “wrong” and “missing” whatever he/she opts to do. If the message receiver cannot for any reason abandon the field of communication[24] [24] For example, the message receiver is dependent on the relation...
suite neither can he/she discuss the messages with the sender, or even with a third person, the receiver is in danger of having his/her mental integrity broken down by the impossible demands of the double bind situation. Bateson (1972) calls this ability to discuss double bind as “meta-communication”.
Thus, Simmel, before Bateson, understood the political-ideological-verbal impasse of the modern capitalist economy and has written down details about that impasse, following the method of “thick description” anthropologists use; he does not need a theory/position at hand about what he sees, but he writes down everything he sees, so that the author or anybody else can later construct a theory, if needed. If this assumption holds, then the schemes we study are an effort of people to avoid the double bind they face within modern economy.[25] [25] For example, “you need official money to access your food...
suite People, by participating in these alternative schemes of exchange networks and parallel currencies exit from the mainstream economy’s field of communication and acquire an ability (or chance) of meta-communication. They can again comment and renegotiate the conditions of their economic activity; finally, they avoid the market-imposed double binds by using their creativity, which Bateson (1972, p. 203) considers as an alternative to schizophrenia.

Collective viewings of value, keeping-while-giving and grassroots transaction mechanisms

23 The third argument is based on the hypothesis by Weiner (1992) that people in a specific social and economic setting participate in several types of transactions, not with primary intention to participate in the transactions, but instead with the aim to keep out of the transactions what they consider most valuable to them. Weiner links this prioritisation of what can be exchanged, with the (re)construction, questioning and (re)negotiation, even struggle, around social hierarchies which are defined via possessions.[26] [26] It does not matter whether those possessions are of material...
suite Our argument is that scheme participants, as individuals and as groups and collectives, attempt to keep their own valuables out of transaction, or, at least out of obligatory transaction, or, at worst case, out of disposition ruled externally. Those valuables might be things, or activities, that are very important to scheme participants, either individually or collectively for various reasons like dignity, views of world/economy/society environment and nature,[27] [27] The parallel use of both terms, “nature” and “environment”,...
suite survival, good living conditions, household shelter, healthy and tasteful food, etc.; anything that they consider of value, no matter whether this is valued in the conventional economy.

24 We also use the anthropological theory of value by Graeber (2001), as well as his views about capitalist modes of production (Graeber, 2006), where value is linked to human action in a wider context, well beyond the notion of labour. So, production and reproduction of ideas and perceptions are also considered action which create and contribute to the value of some things in comparison to other. Then, value is on a continuum between belief and action/non-action formed and continuously renegotiated by people themselves, individually or in groups.

25 Instead of social hierarchies, Graeber (2001, p. 221) uses the term of freedom defined as “…the freedom to choose what sort of obligations one wishes to enter into, and with whom”. To this, one would add Humphrey (1985) on the results from her field research in Nepal. Humphrey concludes that barter is not the stage prior to monetary transactions, but rather the stage after a monetary system has started to disintegrate. “Barter is a response to increasing poverty on the part of the people who wish nevertheless to maintain their autonomy.” (Humphrey, 1985, p. 67)

26 Taking the argument a bit further, one could point out that the scheme participants might have their own theory to explain the economic phenomena they create themselves. Given that knowledge can also be created by non-scholar people and/or by collective groupings, not only by written word and narration, but by action as such (Biddle et al., 2007), one can also describe the theoretical approach of the schemes themselves as a collective viewing of value.[28] [28] We avoid the term “theory”, first because it is not...
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27 This collective viewing of value, far from the subjective value theory and from the objective/labour value theory, implies that within society and/or economy, people might collectively form their views about value(s), while different groups might consider different things to be valuable or with different value each. Collective viewings of value seem to permit scheme participants to prioritise their “valuables”, decide which of them can enter which transaction and under which rules and this explains why and how all those people bother to defy mainstream evaluations and invent ways to apply their own.
Especially about money we use the quality theory by Gregory (1997) which states that the value of money is not founded on the currency quantity, but on the issuing/monetary authority’s power over transacting agents. Thus, the scheme participants who adopt a parallel currency or even participate in a Time Bank, or accept used tickets as payment token, are accepting the currency because they have decided or agreed so. This is not classical fiat money – because in this case there is not an issuing body well separated from the currency users. We have money and money currency created by the users themselves. They set the rules and decide about the money features and value. Its value, therefore, stems from the group’s power to implement their decisions and agreements.

The schemes studied: environmental awareness & good life

28 Most of the schemes studied in this project[29] [29] For more information about the membership dispersion of...
suite have an explicit environment-friendly character, because this is either their main scope or one of the aims targeted through the scheme activity. Another common characteristic is that most schemes do provide a space for “good life” to their members. This happens through an interconnected pattern of actions. For example, the scheme’s feast is not a chance for people to gather and meet each other in order to be able to transact afterwards; the feast is the transaction, around of which several other activities take place, like children education, or dancing, or common lunch for all, etc. Therefore, the social character of economic activity is accepted and promoted as such. At the same time, economic activity becomes itself part of people’s quality of life and it is not an action separated from the latter (life and quality), much less is it the “sacrifice” required to obtain quality of/and life.
Of course, one can discern the differences among schemes. Those which are more business- oriented tend to forget the above or at least, they seem not to have “good life” as their immediate concern. The same schemes usually tend to see environmental issues as parallel or connected to their main scope, but not as their principal aim. The schemes operating in Greece are set out below, grouped into four types.

Exchange networks

29 The biggest and oldest exchange network is Peliti[30] [30] See Peliti website at: www. peliti. gr ...
suite which covers the entire country. It was founded in 2000 and its structure consists of two separate but intertwined networks: the first, is a general network for exchanging goods and services, while the second, is a specialised network which enables its members, but also anyone interested, to exchange or just find for free traditional varieties of plants[31] [31] Another term already used for them is “landraces”. ...
suite (fruit or decorative trees, vegetables, flowers, etc) for free and to acquire (at the cost of breeding only) several traditional species of domestic animals.

30 The main idea is that by preserving the traditional plant and domestic animal varieties one should be able to find the species for free and offer them for free to whomever asks for them.[32] [32] Domestic animals, given that their cost of breeding might...
suite Moreover, the transactions held in the general network do not allow the use of money by the participants – exchange offers and demands are advertised on the website and on the annual Peliti Magazine, so members can easily be informed about them.

31 Apart from Peliti, there are several (at least 6 active in 2011) schemes for preservation and dissemination of traditional varieties throughout Greece. Most of them co-operate with Peliti but some have opted for acting locally only. Some of them are not even networks, but they use local proximity of their members to create an unofficial group of people who cultivate and exchange traditional seeds. All of them provide the seeds for free to members and non-members and there is only a (loose) obligation of the receiver to cultivate the seeds, renew the variety for next year and provide any other person with seeds for free.

32 Peliti participates in several fairs related to ecology and nature preservation that are held in Greece throughout the year. However, the most important fair is the annual one, organized by Peliti themselves in spring, the first Saturday after Easter. The fair lasts one day and attracts hundreds of cultivators and volunteers and thousands[33] [33] The three last annual fairs of Peliti have attracted 1200...
suite of visitors from all over the country but also from abroad. The fair is organized around the exchange of traditional varieties of plants and domestic animals and it includes an entire day with live music, speeches, dance and a common lunch for all. Attending the fair and all the activities is free, including the common lunch. Visitors can take traditional plant seeds for free and without obligation to give anything in return, after, of course, the cultivators have exchanged the varieties among themselves.[34] [34] A new system for the exchange has been introduced at the...
suite The fair is organized on a volunteer basis, and most volunteers gather some days in advance to help with the arrangement of the place, the preparation of food and the packing of the traditional seeds provided by cultivators for the fair. The food is prepared with ingredients offered by the scheme participants, therefore it is traditionally produced.[35] [35] Traditional agriculture is something that is promoted through...
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33 Following the model of the annual Peliti fair, there are organized several fairs throughout Greece, where people gather, have fun and exchange traditional varieties. The fairs are organised by the local groups of traditional farmers, either as special events or as part of the schedule of major events that might last for more than one day.
Another exchange network of general scope is Logo-Timis[36] [36] See website at: www. logo-timis. gr ...
suite (Λóγω Τιμης – “Word of Honour” in Greek) which started its function on June 4th 2010, based in Athens. Due to its recent establishment, the website is in testing-phase and the offers on the webpage are very few. From the announcements of the network it is open to all internet users.

Free-exchange bazaars (χαριστικά-ανταλλακτικά παζάρια) and free networks (χαριστικά δίκτυα)

34 To bring something is not obligatory in free bazaars, but we learn that there is an “unwritten” rule in one-day bazaars where, in order to participate, you should bring at least something. This rule does not hold in permanent bazaars, because a person can bring something one day and take something else after several months. However, in no case is it necessary to equalise the value of what you offer and what you get, which means that, in principle, you are free to take as many or as valuable things as you can carry with you.

35 The first free-exchange bazaar in Greece was organized by Sporos Co-operative in downtown Athens and has been operating since 2003. While still being part of the same co-operative, the bazaar itself has moved to its own place and called Skoros[37] [37] See website at: http:/ / skoros. espiv. net ...
suite (Σκϖ́ρος, “Moth” in Greek). There are five other permanent free bazaars in major cities of the country (Thessalonica, Chania, Ioannina, Corfu and Rhodes) and a regular free-exchange bazaar (named Magic Carpet) in the city of Kilkis. Most free-exchange bazaars are organised in several neighbourhoods of Greater Athens area, and also in many other cities of Greece for an afternoon or a day, usually combined with other activities (like kitchen collectives,[38] [38] A kitchen collective (συλλογική κουζίνα)...
suite handicraft fairs, etc.).

36 As for free networks, there are only three free networks in Greece, and all of them cover the entire country: one is Freecycle[39] [39] See website at: http:/ / freecycle. wikispaces. com/ freecycle_ gr...
suite in Greece, which is member of the international Freecycle network started in USA several years ago; the other is Charise-To[40] [40] See website at: www. xariseto. gr ...
suite (Χάρισέ-το or “Give-it-away” in Greek) network, which is based in Thessalonica and also organise free bazaars in co-operation with the city municipality; and the most recent one is Dosse-Pare (“Give-Take” in Greek),[41] [41] See website at: http:/ / dwsepare. ning. com ...
suite which also gives its member the facility to exchange services but also food stuff.

37 A special type of free bazaars is swishing parties (πάρτυ ανταλλαγής ρούχων) which emerged in Athens[42] [42] See website at: www. swishing. gr ...
suite since 2009 and Thessalonica[43] [43] See website at: http:/ / swishing-thess. blogspot. com/ . ...
suite in 2010. “Swishing” is a term created out of swapping and shopping to describe parties where people bring their clothes, shoes and accessories and can take other clothing stuff for free.

38 All free bazaars and free networks have their own rules (which evolve season after season) to prevent abuse of the initiative or “plundering” of the stuff offered. Therefore, there might be limits in the stuff you may take at once or in the stuff you may offer, and in some cases cash-sale of freely taken stuff is identified and the abusing members are banned from the bazaar or network. Apart from adopting rules, the free bazaars and networks are seeing their activities as belonging to a general, anti-consumerist mentality, where the “old, used stuff” is not only useful but actually it is the starting point for creation. Skoros bazaar offers free workshops for sewing and altering clothes,[44] [44] The “motto” of the activities is well summarised in...
suite but they also organize several fairs to enhance the general mentality where the free bazaar stems from. A big fair held in late May 2010 and dedicated to children is included; consisting of clothes, toys and books,[45] [45] At this “children’s weekend”, there have been offered...
suite artistic and creative workshops for children, theatre, story-telling performances, face-painting, etc.

39 Creativity, then, is well acclaimed within the free bazaars and free networks, and many people are encouraged through organized workshops or free advice by the scheme members to alter the clothes and other stuff they take through the schemes or to create new things. Some of the creations are really very elaborated or artistic and members do offer for free many of those creations to the other members of the scheme. This attitude is common to all bazaars, permanent or not, because they are never held separated from other activities, which are productive directly (through creation of things) or indirectly (through educational workshops), or from activities that are not “useful” or “productive” at first sight: art performances and concerts, movie shows, assemblies for discussing issues, etc. Therefore, the free bazaar is the space or the pretext of the gathering or is just one activity among the rest.
The free networks, given that their space is virtual, have no such global activity scope, but they, nevertheless, do foster gatherings or even free bazaars (e.g. Charise-to network organises free bazaars in Thessalonica, and Dosse-Pare has organized several meetings for exchange and their gathering in mid-May 2011 was dedicated to the “creators” like people who create new stuff by using things offered for free through the network). Swishing parties, on the other hand, are what their name says: parties where people swap clothes and accessories; soft drinks are offered, while there is music, dance, and several activities and happenings that will amuse the party guests and create a friendly atmosphere while the latter are exchanging or seeking expert advice about making alterations to the newly acquired clothes.

Parallel currencies

40 The oldest parallel currency scheme in Greece is a Time Bank based in Athens and run by the Greek branch of the European Network of Women.[46] [46] See website at: www. enow. gr. The Greek Branch of the European...
suite The scheme started working in October 2006 and follows the general structure of time banks. It is a network of individuals who are offering services to each other. In reward, each member gains “time” so that he/she is able to ask for the other members’ services. The value of the services is accounted in time hours and the hours credited and debited for each member are recorded in a computer with software created by a volunteer. The major emphasis has been given so far to education services, related to languages, PC skills, the arts; but also to domestic work.

41 The Time Bank is the only scheme that explicitly uses a theory and educates its members to it. The theory concerns “love economy” as described by Hazel Henderson. The new-member workshops include the presentation of Henderson (1996)’s layer cake to describe the economy, as well as the position of the Time Bank activity within this economic framework.[47] [47] Henderson’s picture of economic cake can be found at Henderson...
suite The Time Bank of Athens understands their activity as a contribution to the “love economy” which is directly connected to “what nature gives to us”, e.g. the first layer of the economy cake.

42 Far from Athens, the Local Alternative Unit (Τοπικῃ Εναλλακτικῃ Μονᾳδα – LAU) was launched on June 15th 2010 in the city of Volos, on the East Central coast of Greece. The Unit is used within the framework of the Exchange and Solidarity Network[48] [48] See website at: www. tem-magnisia. gr ...
suite which covers the entire county of Magnesía. At the moment, the membership is rather low because they have not proceeded with heavy publicizing yet, given that the scheme is on the process of resolving several practical issues.

43 The project is a very interesting one: it is designed to remain local; the managing team has opted so far to avoid the network taking any official legal form while they are in close co-ordination with local municipal services; local businesses are also welcome to participate and actually it is a local business that offers the server of the network. The currency is digital and also material form of vouchers of “payment orders”, so that transactions are facilitated even in cases where the use of a PC is not possible. On the other hand, the funding of the project is upon its members only.

44 The LAU of Magnesía has the use of local resources as one of its main aims. However, the environmental issues are not directly mentioned by the scheme as such, although there are members of this network who consider environmental issues as being of highest importance.

45 Finally, including members from all over the country, the Ovolos project started organizing in January 2009 and it is based in Patras city (South-West coast of Greece) but also run in Thessalonica (in the North of Greece).[49] [49] See website at: www. ovolos. gr. There is also a group with...
suite The effective launch of Ovolos currency was done finally in late March 2010 and despite the expanding membership,[50] [50] The Ovolos users were already more than 5000 in November...
suite its organizers consider the project to be still in testing-phase. Ovolos is used by several people who do not live or work in Patras and Thessalonica, but they prefer to transact locally using for their transactions the Ovolos online platform. To avoid abuses, the scheme has not permitted double pricing, e.g. the items or services sold are priced and paid in Ovolos only.
The main point is that the Time Bank differs from the other two parallel currencies which are rather of LETS type, not only in having a clear environmental ideology, but also in having a mentality of creating bonds throughout the scheme, while the other two schemes do praise social relations and human values but they prefer to leave this part on their members’ initiative. However, one can note that parallel currencies are well defended as environment-friendly in the literature as noted previously in the literature review section.

Sui generis schemes

46 The major sui generis scheme is the Money Back System. This is a network combining exchange trade but also monetary elements. The network has been created by a private company, which also owns the intellectual property rights of the system. Bus companies of Crete and Dodecanese, but also of Central Macedonia, where the city of Thessalonica[51] [51] Thessalonica is the second most populated city in Greece...
suite is, co-operate as sponsors of the system while other local companies (super markets, pastries, clothing stores, cafés, furniture stores, cinemas, etc) are by contract commercial partners of the managing company.

47 According to the project, the used tickets of mass transport means, no matter in which part of the country they have been used, can be re-used at the their nominal value to buy goods and services from the participating companies, but of course, they cannot be used again for public transport. Each enterprise announces in public which part of the price can be paid in tickets.[52] [52] Price part to be paid in used tickets varies from 1/ 4 to...
suite The only prerequisite is that the value of the ticket is written on the ticket and it does not matter when the tickets have been issued or used for transportation.

48 The scheme is distinguished first for its simplicity based on the used tickets circulating as money, second for its business-to-business-to-customer (B2B2C) structure and third for its environmental and economic implications, given that it is supposed to induce people to use mass transportation and do their shopping at local companies.

49 The other sui generis schemes are of quite different structure and scope than Money Back System. One of the schemes lies in Herakleion county, and, despite it functions for more than two years, has no formal name yet. It consists of more than thirty (30) households in Herakleion and in villages around the city, who produce their food and use the goods they produce the traditional way. That means, that they not only use traditional seeds for the cultivation, but they also work all together in the fields. Each household, however, has the ownership of the land. The expenses are (or, they seem as) being undertaken by the owner of the land (e.g. water), the seeds are free,[53] [53] The seeds are free because they are traditional varieties...
suite fertilizers and pesticides do not exist. The work performed by all members together concerns every household, e.g. it is performed by all alternately for the production of each household. Work is not done with conditions of an 8-hour working day,[54] [54] They might work less or more than eight hours per day. However,...
suite nor does it belong to the classical notion of volunteering. Harvesting is also done in groups, but the sharing of food/harvest is a decision made by the household who owns the land which gave the harvest.
The second scheme in Herakleion county is based in Archanes, which is a small town in Herakleion mountainous area. The scheme is actually an artistic collective, named LATHOS (“error” in Greek) who work on several projects, within the framework of social intervention conceived as artwork. The scheme managed to construct an entire house using exchange networks instead of money (apart from all transactions that by law should be done with official currency) and they aspire to continue this same exchange activity in order to work on more artistic projects in the future.
The third scheme, named ARTBANK,[55] [55] More information see the group’s blog at: http:/ / orizontasgegonotwn. blogspot. com/ search/ label/ ArtBank...
suite is located in Athens. This is an art project by a collective of artists who want to create a platform for discussion and debate on the terms of money, currency, exchange and economy. Therefore, the artworks created and exhibited by the collective are used as money tokens or as pretexts for inviting people to exchange views on essential economic notions.

Theoretical issues raised by the schemes studied

50 Several questions arise by the schemes described above:

51 A) What happens with the value of the stuff disposed through free-exchange bazaars and free networks?

52 Β) Do the cultivators, by exchanging or giving traditional seeds for free, reduce or increase the seeds’ value? Is the value of a traditional seed established, not by the labour it integrates, but by the market it circulates in? Or, by the rules the transaction is taking place[56] [56] There is at least one case, where a cultivator paid a lot...
suite?

53 C) How do those used tickets get this value again? Is this value really same as the previous one?

54 D) Why do people transact without exact measuring of the values transacted?

55 E) In a time bank, not only the value of one cleaning hour is equal to one medical doctor’s treatment hour, but also the value of one fast cleaning hour is equal to one slow cleaning hour. Why do those people accept and actually offer this equalising of their skills? What is this value based on?

56 F) Why do users of parallel currencies accept the currency of another user? What is the value of those currencies? How is this currency working as a measure of value?

57 G) Is each scheme a market? Or is it an economy but not a market? Can we have a market without exact prices? Can we have a market with an equalising measure, like time hours in the time bank? Can we say that reciprocity and the rule of “obligatory payment” exist and function within those schemes in very different ways than the conventional market?

58 H) How are environmental issues affecting the transactions within the schemes, or the existence and structure of a scheme itself?
I) Nature and/or environment are considered within schemes to be the ultimate values, along with human survival. What are the implications for the schemes and their members’ activity?

The schemes studied (again): a first attempt to answer questions

59 When people permit someone to acquire necessities by parallel currency without the use of official currency, they might keep their euros, or their nutrition, or even their social status (which is maintained by not borrowing official currency for petty purchases) out of the conventional market. Another example: in traditional seeds exchange groups and networks, people possess material and know-how that is essential in food production and keep it outside conventional market but instead, this ends up under specific status or space of transaction. If one wants to trade traditional vegetable seeds, one has the options either to acquire some for free, if available, or to provide other traditional seeds in reward.

60 The above seem to differentiate these alternative transactions from mainstream markets not only in terms of rules and principles, but also in terms of space and time. Particularly about the latter, obligations expand in time following scheme members’ ability to offer work or goods whenever they can, or even following nature’s seasonal cycles. Even in parallel currency schemes, where one can see a structure closer to mainstream economy, interest payments do not exist[57] [57] To be specific, nominal interest rate is zero. Whether there...
suite and the credit of one member is another member’s debt, which means that a) debt is necessary for the scheme to work but also that b) overall debt does not exceed credit.

61 On the other hand, when scheme participants mention that the environment is important and they want to protect it, they do so by offering for re-use items they not need anymore, instead of selling them for euro currency. Recycling in a factory would not do this; in fact it is possible that re-cycling in a factory might be as harmful to the environment as using natural resources for first time. Scheme members participate in the network to transact on items they would not be economically active about in “normal” commercial terms.
Weiner (1990) explains that these alternative activities make the “valuable” enter into transactions, but not in commercial market terms, instead in market terms that are totally different from “free market” terms. In other words, people prioritize things and activities in ways that are different from those used for prioritization in conventional market(s). Or, even if they make this priority the same as in conventional market,[58] [58] Traditional wheat and corn seeds are again good examples;...
suite they create a different set of transaction rules when it comes to the same highly-valued items. Therefore, all scheme participants use different techniques, and combine several techniques in order to achieve their umbrella aim[59] [59] The aim might be to keep the most valuable out of transactions,...
suite and the aims under it. These techniques are set out below:

62

1. They decide that some things are out of transaction at all and those things are tagged as “priceless”. Environment/nature and human survival (right to food) are considered to be priceless.
   
2. They decide to give for free things[60] [60] This one is quite opposite to the previous technique, but...
   suite which are the most valuable (human time, traditional plant seeds) or the least valuable (used clothes, shoes, etc). So, the price in this case is zero while value attributed to transacted things might vary!
   
3. They create several types of markets along or outside or in contradiction with the main market type. They create rules for transacting on one item only (like traditional seeds exchange networks and groups); or, they set another measure of value/equivalence (like Time Banks); or, they set new rules for transacting, like exchange with no measure unit (like free exchange or the group of households in Herakleion county); or, they set new rules for transacting with measure units and even currency, creating the latter as they wish (like parallel currencies or the MoneyBackSystem[61] [61] MoneyBackSystem is a real puzzle. Typically, the companies...
   suite).
   
4. They seem to create economies parallel to the conventional one. Those economies comprise more than the transaction itself: it is cultivation, experimentation,[62] [62] One thing cultivators in the Peliti network do is to see...
   suite creation of new household production and nutritional customs, education of adults and children, etc.
   
5. They seem to attempt a re-definition of the context within which economic activity is taking place. The Peliti network, for example, enables people from all over the country to exchange traditional varieties at the mailing cost only. This means that in “economic” terms it is not “efficient” for cultivators but also for any other person to travel to the other side of the country to attend a fair or to volunteer for the network. Nevertheless, the Peliti annual fair (as well as all other fairs) have hundreds of visitors, cultivators and volunteers who all spend hundreds of euros to cover their travel expenses. The work that each fair requires is enormous but everyone can work or rest, eat or dance, wander around or talk with friends, as they like. So, the exchange of traditional seeds seems reversed as a transaction; it is officially the scope and the pretext of the gathering, but actually it arrives to be the result of it. The exchange is not done because this is the most “efficient” way,[63] [63] An important critical view on the “efficiency” principle...
   suite but because this is the best way for it to be done. The criteria for the “best” might depend on the people who are involved, on the social interaction among friends and strangers as well as on what the people involved want to experience in this space. They seek the realization of values that do not exist in the conventional economy, or they create a living example, even for just a day, of how it would be when many people can survive together without conventional economic constraints.
   

A research participant who had expressed his anti-capitalist ideology told the researcher that it is not possible to be completely unconnected to the mainstream economy. Neither was there any perceived impression obtained that the scheme participants’ aimed to disconnect with the main economy or to create closed circles of transactions beyond the mainstream. Schemes are not conflictual at all with the mainstream and the participants usually avoid claiming so. Nevertheless, dissidence takes place de facto, which integrates the notion of “crack” – it is not a fight or a struggle at all, but it works towards challenging the conventional economic structures.
That a market may exist without prices or without price fluctuation but with set and fixed prices or even without the conventional supply-demand-price mechanism is not a path-breaking option. In other times and places (in Greece, too), markets were structured in several ways. This reminds us that self-regulating/free market is one type of market among many (Neale 1957), and that beyond this, there may exist several types of economic spaces.

Schemes studied and the economic and financial “crisis” in Greece

63 A major question concerning all the schemes which do not use official currency in Greece is about the role of the economic and financial “crisis”[64] [64] The author has several reservations concerning the term...
suite the country faces since October 2008. Does this “crisis” make people join non-monetary or parallel currency schemes? How is “crisis” affecting economic activity without the use of the euro in Greece?

64 The answer cannot be simple. First, the scheme organizers and participants themselves, in their discussions and interviews, do recognize the importance of the general economic and financial situation in Greece, but they do not think that the situation is the only important reason for them or for the thousands of other people to join the schemes. Second, for anyone who lived in Greece in the couple of decades before the “crisis”, the situation was evident that in economic as well as in environmental terms, the situation was not sustainable in the long run.[65] [65] This theme appears in discussion with scheme members but...
suite Therefore, people within the schemes emphasize that there is also a shift in mentality, which has been expressed through the schemes that existed before 2008 and have been developed after 2008; e.g. the economic hardship is the chance to discuss again the entire economic model the country has adopted in the past decades.

65 Finally, among the mapping tasks of this research project, there has been an effort to compare the scheme membership dispersion to the general population dispersion in Greece. To make the comparison feasible, a comparison has been made of the percentages of the population and membership in each county and then in each region. In the end, the percentages of both population and scheme membership (for the schemes for whish we had access to such data) have been compared to percentage of unemployment increase in Greece since October 2008 till October 2010 (for which we had data in January 2011). Below there is a table as published in January 2011 (Sotiropoulou, 2011, p. 33) concerning this question.
The results show that unemployment increase in some regions runs parallel to scheme membership, while in other regions this does not happen. Moreover, participation differs in each region according to each scheme. One possible explanation is that there is need for more data concerning more schemes for longer time periods, so that we can better examine whether there might be any direct relation between unemployment increase and scheme membership. Another possible explanation is that unemployment increase does create problems, but not all communities and not all people seek solutions through the schemes studied. The second (quantitative) stage of research will hopefully provide us with more data concerning this issue.

Issues to be further researched

66 Given that the research has not yet been concluded and new schemes emerge all over the country, the first (qualitative) stage of the project will continue along with the second (quantitative) stage which has just started. We need to check out quantitative issues, like the volume of transaction in the schemes, as well as their connection with environmental questions, like the consistency of cultivations with the traditional methods the seeds are meant to be used for. We need to see whether parallel currency users tend to produce and consume (create and use) in a way that is more environment- or nature-friendly. Finally, we need to see whether the gatherings and the spaces created by the schemes do make people to really shift their economic activity towards more sustainable patterns.

Percentages of scheme membership and unemployment rate increase on regional map 2011[66] [66] To calculate the percentage of increase of unemployment...
suite

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Notes

[1] Acknowledgements: I am grateful to: Ms Lydia Koniordou and Prof. Costas Georgousopoulos (University of Athens, Greece) for having accepted to give interviews on the notion of “crack” and for their advice on literature, as well as to the personnel of the Cultural Non-Profit Organisation “Desmoi/Δεσμoι” (Athens, Greece), for their assistance; to Prof. Richard Seaford (University of Exeter, UK) for his advice on literature; to Dr Stephen Shukaitis (University of Essex, UK) for his support in methodology issues and for the literature advice; and to Prof. Dimitris Kapogiannis and Prof. Takis Nikolopoulos (Technological Educational Institute of Messolonghi, Greece), for their encouragement and advice and for having sent to me their unpublished article on social currencies and teaching notes on social economy. I am also grateful to two anonymous referees for their valuable comments and advice for improving the initial version of this paper. All deficiencies remain the responsibility of the author only. This work was supported by the project “IRAKLITOS II-University of Crete of the NSRF” (2007-2013), which is co-funded by the European Union (European Social Fund) and National Resources of Greece.

[2] Of course, in some cases there are already or there are being created relations of kinship or friendship within the schemes, but those are not a necessary nor a sufficient condition for the transaction to take place.

[3] Those categories are rather schematic. Most current schemes around the world tend to adopt local characteristics or to combine features of various currency types, so that the users or the local community can cover their specific needs.

[4] For more information, see www.timebanks.org & http://timebank.org.uk

[5] For more information, see http://www.letslinkuk.net

[6] For more information, see http://www.wir.ch /index.cfm? BFE9B56235A311D6B9940001020761E5. WIR currency has been “circulating” in Switzerland since 1934.

[7] For more information, see http://www.ithacahours.com

[8] For more information, see http://www.chiemgauer.info

[9] It is amazing the pace by which new issues come up almost every day that are not yet elaborated enough to be included in the formal interviews. We expect to examine them thoroughly at a later stage of the project.

[10] See also for this Akerlof & Shiller (2009, pp. 3-4, 77-8, 134, 167-76).

[11] For the nature of inquiry in economics, see particularly, Bush (1991, pp. 330-1, 333-7). For the pattern model and the holist choice of letting the phenomena studied to dictate the methods of research, see Francis & Wilber (1986, pp. 183-4, 187-91) and Harrison & Wilber (1978, pp. 71-3, 76-83).

[12] This possibility of knowledge springing from grassroots activity has been mentioned in academic literature. See for this Biddle et al. (2007), but also Longhurst & Seyfang (2011, pp. 17-18).

[13] For a more detailed presentation of literature findings see Sotiropoulou (2010, pp. 12-25).

[14] For Keynes’ views about Gesell and his theory, see Keynes (1936, pp. 350, 234-5). Discussion about land speculation and the role of money interest can be found in the same work (p. 239). One more interesting issue Keynes raises is the non-monetary economy (p. 20), without unfortunately clarifying whether such an economy is impossible in any case for a large community or whether it is impossible because of lack of certain technologies. For the discussion about land speculation, see Creutz (1982).

[15] See also Goerner et al. (2009).

[16] Vlachou (2002, pp. 196-7) also quotes her personal communication with Anwar Shaikh concerning this issue, e.g. specification of value formation in capitalist markets.

[17] The examination of alternative explanations for an economic phenomenon is necessary, because it is not possible to verify stricto sensu a pattern model, much less the findings of a research like the present one. Therefore, verification takes place within the framework of the acceptance that the research findings cannot possibly lead to a unique answer and that the researcher needs to regularly question her own assumptions and arguments by checking their plausibility and the plausibility of any alternatives to them. See for this Harrison & Wilber (1978, pp. 76-7).

[18] We have not found any literature in social sciences that uses the notion of crack. We turned then to Ms Lydia Koniordou who is a classical theatre actress and theatre director and used the notion of “crack” as the main axis for directing the play of Aeschylus’ Persai in 2006. The definition above has been given within the framework of an interview which Ms Koniordou gave on May 26th 2010 especially for this research project. Subsequently, the term has been used by Holloway (2010) to refer to “crack capitalism”, see later.

[19] One could mention at this point the Great Transformation as depicted by Polanyi (2001). Karl Polanyi, at the end of his book (pp. 257-67) claims that society will attempt to integrate again market economy, despite the independent nature of the latter during the last centuries under capitalist socio-economic structures.

[20] See, for the “impurity principle” of capitalism, Hodgson (2001, pp. 70-4).

[21] There are schemes who adopt anti-capitalist arguments but it seems that those arguments do not prevail or at least do not prevail for the majority of the schemes. As a result, the researcher is very reluctant to label the schemes as anti-capitalist whenever the schemes do not rush to adopt such a name for themselves.

[22] This idea of “re-setting the agenda” is perhaps the crucial point for the crack not only in Holloway (2010), see for this chapters 5-10 (e.g. pp. 21-79) but also in the research findings, as they will be presented in the next section of this paper. This is well “found” in the research results, e.g. the schemes, instead of adopting an anti-capitalist discourse or any discourse starting with an “anti-”, tend to create or establish new themes for discussion or public debate and they act within those new themes. Holloway calls this behaviour “the revolt of doing against labour”, see Holloway (2010, pp. 83-99).

[23] When I first read this critique, I thought that this notion (schizophrenic, schizophrenia) is being used by the authors to make their critique more impressive. Just after a while, political correctness hit me to the point I considered the use of the notion quite unfortunate, insulting people under severe condition. When I finally arrived to study Bateson’s writings, I realised that it might be a completely political notion, irrespective of the reasons for which Leyshon and Thrift use it in their book. Bateson proves by ethnographically studying schizophrenia, that there is a social structure which creates it and it is not an illness stricto sensu.

[24] For example, the message receiver is dependent on the relation with the message sender for practical, economic or psychological reasons.

[25] For example, “you need official money to access your food and clothes – I cannot hire you and/or offer you a salary that will provide you with the money to cover your basic needs because I have not official money to pay you”. Or, “we want to protect the environment because human survival depends on that – however, if we protect the environment too much, then many people will be unemployed and their survival will be at stake”.

[26] It does not matter whether those possessions are of material nature, like clothes or a crown, or of non-material nature, like a story, a myth, a poem, social status and titles.

[27] The parallel use of both terms, “nature” and “environment”, is made here. This is because not only they are dissimilar, but they also reveal the stance of the user toward the physical world. Environment is usually used in discourse that sees humans separated from nature.

[28] We avoid the term “theory”, first because it is not a theory, second because “viewing” implies better the positionality of the viewer(s).

[29] For more information about the membership dispersion of the schemes throughout Greece, see Sotiropoulou (2011).

[30] See Peliti website at: www.peliti.gr

[31] Another term already used for them is “landraces”.

[32] Domestic animals, given that their cost of breeding might be high in some cases, can be purchased with official money, but only to cover the breeding costs and not the value of the rarity of the species. This means if a member of the network overcharges, it will be reported.

[33] The three last annual fairs of Peliti have attracted 1200 (2009), 2500 (2010) and 3200 (2011) visitors in just one day.

[34] A new system for the exchange has been introduced at the Peliti fair in 2011: exchange starts earlier during the day and all, cultivators and visitors, exchange at the same time, but they are given five vouchers (for free) so that they can exchange them for seeds or little plants. Therefore, cultivators, who usually come to the fair earlier than the visitors, may have better access to seeds but during the fair time, all have equal access to the seeds offered. The vouchers have been introduced so that people who are first in front of the cultivators’ booths can get no more seeds than those who are after them.

[35] Traditional agriculture is something that is promoted through Peliti in contrast to the idea of “organic farming”. Traditional agriculture does not only include traditional varieties of plants and traditional methods of farming, but it also excludes pesticides and fertilisers of any kind (so, organic pesticides and fertilisers are also excluded and the use of animal dung is under severe debate) and the excessive use of water resources.

[36] See website at: www.logo-timis.gr

[37] See website at: http://skoros.espiv.net

[38] A kitchen collective (συλλογική κουζίνα) is a gathering where people cook food together and have common lunch or dinner. Some kitchen collectives in Athens are regular (Skoros holds one every Friday evening), but several occasional free bazaars tend to include a kitchen collective as well.

[39] See website at: http://freecycle.wikispaces.com /freecycle_ gr

[40] See website at: www.xariseto.gr

[41] See website at: http://dwsepare.ning.com

[42] See website at: www.swishing.gr

[43] See website at: http://swishing-thess.blogspot.com /.

[44] The “motto” of the activities is well summarised in a Skoros sticker where it is stated that “Free bazaars and sewing kill “fashion” and they are fun” [Τα χαριστικά παξάρια και το ράψιμο σκοτώνουν τη μόδα και έχουν πλάκα].

[45] At this “children’s weekend”, there have been offered for free new-unused clothes that had been the stock of a store which was closed down.

[46] See website at: www.enow.gr. The Greek Branch of the European Network of Women is a Non-Governmental Organisation assisting women who are victims of violence. However, the Time Bank is an activity totally separated from the rest of the NGO activities. Anyone can be a Time Bank member.

[47] Henderson’s picture of economic cake can be found at Henderson (1996, p. 58). Henderson believes that major part of the economy, and actually its base layers, are nature and non-monetary economy. The monetary economy is the upper layer and the international financial structures are the icing on the cake. In Athens Time Bank there is also widely used Henderson’s idea of “love economy”, e.g. non-money economy; it can also be found in Henderson (1996, p. 183), but actually its full presentation is well dispersed in the entire book.

[48] See website at: www.tem-magnisia.gr

[49] See website at: www.ovolos.gr. There is also a group with the same name at Facebook, where the members discuss issues about their currency. All texts are so far, in Greek only.

[50] The Ovolos users were already more than 5000 in November 2010, although only a part of them are actually exchanging.

[51] Thessalonica is the second most populated city in Greece after Athens. The county of Thessalonica attracts 9.65% of the general population. See for the detailed statistical information Sotiropoulou (2011, p. 6), or the website of the Greek Statistical Authority, www.statistics.gr.

[52] Price part to be paid in used tickets varies from 1/4 to 1/20 of the price. The list of price shares paid in tickets by each participating company as of April 2011, accessed at: http://www.moneybacksystem.gr /Epixeirhseis_ Aprilios_2011.pdf.

[53] The seeds are free because they are traditional varieties (landraces) and the group members exchange them for free and preserve them the traditional way. They are also in co-operation with the Peliti network.

[54] They might work less or more than eight hours per day. However, they work together with their families and they make breaks as they wish. At the same time, they play (live) music and sing and have fun while working.

[55] More information see the group’s blog at: http://orizontasgegonotwn.blogspot.com /search /label /ArtBank

[56] There is at least one case, where a cultivator paid a lot of money to buy a traditional seed and then he disposed it freely to other cultivators!

[57] To be specific, nominal interest rate is zero. Whether there is difference between nominal and actual interest rate and whether this can happen with a parallel currency, is a question to be answered.

[58] Traditional wheat and corn seeds are again good examples; both conventional market and exchange networks perceive the seeds to be of great value.

[59] The aim might be to keep the most valuable out of transactions, or create another economic space more coherent than the conventional one, or do something beyond what is imposed on them by free-market rules.

[60] This one is quite opposite to the previous technique, but it is quite interesting in how both techniques might lead to the same result!

[61] MoneyBackSystem is a real puzzle. Typically, the companies participating in the scheme have an incentive for this, because they are supposed to maintain or increase their market share in times of economic crisis. However, one would ask why they just do not offer some general discounts to their clients, but they prefer to reward with discounts the clients who are using mass transportation.

[62] One thing cultivators in the Peliti network do is to see which varieties will survive and flourish in areas where they have not been traditional so far, without compromising the already existing local landraces.

[63] An important critical view on the “efficiency” principle that runs through economic science is presented in Goerner et al. (2010). This critique states that “efficiency” might not be the only principle a sustainable economy should seek.

[64] The author has several reservations concerning the term “crisis” as used in economic literature to describe a situation of economic and/or financial hardship. It seems that “crisis” is referring to certain social groups only, usually middle classes who are severely hit when a capitalist economy is facing problems. On the other hand, it seems that lower income people are always in economic and financial “crisis”, even in times of “prosperity” without economists paying attention to this “crisis” because in “prosperous times” poverty is considered either a misfit or a… normal result of a capitalist economy. Therefore, the term “crisis” here is used (as in questions of this type) often addressed to the author. In that sense, this entire section is under question concerning the notion of “crisis”.

[65] This theme appears in discussion with scheme members but also with people outside the schemes. The idea of sustainability of course varies in Greece (perhaps not only in Greece). Therefore, one could comment that the schemes studied belong to a certain view of sustainability.

[66] To calculate the percentage of increase of unemployment rates, we used the data as provided by the Hellenic Statistical Authority, www.statistics.gr. See Sotiropoulou (2011) for more details and tables on this issue.

Résumé

PLAN DE L'ARTICLE

• Methodology of research
• The existing literature13
• Possible theoretical approaches
  • The crack – Η ρωγμή
  • Simmel’s philosophy of money and Bateson’s ecology of the mind
  • Collective viewings of value, keeping-while-giving and grassroots transaction mechanisms
• The schemes studied: environmental awareness & good life
  • Exchange networks
  • Free-exchange bazaars (χαριστικά-ανταλλακτικά παζάρια) and free networks (χαριστικά δίκτυα)
  • Parallel currencies
  • Sui generis schemes
• Theoretical issues raised by the schemes studied
• The schemes studied (again): a first attempt to answer questions
• Schemes studied and the economic and financial “crisis” in Greece
• Issues to be further researched

POUR CITER CET ARTICLE

Irene Sotiropoulou « How environmental awareness can be practical and funny while puzzling economists: exchange networks, parallel currencies & free bazaars in Greece », Journal of Innovation Economics 2/2011 (n°8), p. 89-117.
URL : www.cairn.info/revue-journal-of-innovation-economics-2011-2-page-89.htm.
DOI : 10.3917/jie.008.0089.