Dear all
Apologies for cross posting and for self promotion.
Those of you interested in the 'alternative economic spaces' debates may be
interested in the following which has just been published:
Alternative Currency Movements as a Challenge to Globalisation?
A Case Study of Manchester's Local Currency Networks
Peter North
Ashgate Economic Geography Series
Readers attached to universities might want to order it for their
libraries, but as it is published at the monetarily indefensible price of
$99.95/£50.00, it's beyond the range of those without institutional
support.
That said, I have a number of free copies which I would be happy to send to
anyone interested in seeing it who helped me with the research, anyone who
has a track record developing alternative currencies, or anyone else really
nice who will be able to make it available to others to read.
Please let me know if you would like a free copy and I will post it out to
you. I'll see who requests a copy and make a decision about how to divvy
them up then.
Pete
Details:
(see
<https://www.ashgate.com/shopping/title.asp?key1=&key2=&orig=results&isbn=0%207546%204591%206>
Over the past 15 years, local money networks, which are essentially trading
networks using a community-created currency, have emerged in countries as
far apart as Argentina, Australia and New Zealand, Canada and the US,
continental Europe and Japan. They range from Local Exchange Trading
Schemes (UK), to Time Dollars (US), Green Dollars (New Zealand, Australia
and Canada), Trading Circles (Hungary), Barter Networks (Argentina) and
Talents (Germany).
Drawing on an ethnographic case study of alternative currency movements in
Manchester, UK, this book provides an analysis of the motivations, aims,
successes and failures of alternative currency networks. It also raises
questions such as the contribution of the alternative currency movement to
current debates about alternatives to neoliberalism. While it is
theoretically informed, critical and grounded in fieldwork, it is also
sympathetic to the political aims of the protagonists and cognisant of the
non-economic benefits that arise from their development.
Contents
Introduction: money only has the value we give it? Context and Theoretical
Background: Developing a toolkit for understanding LETS: social movement
approaches; Investigating social movements; 'Dirty old Town': urban change
in Manchester. Manchester's Alternative Currency Networks: LETS in
Manchester; The politics of LETS; Self Analysis: do members see LETS as a
social movement?; Transformation: LETS and economic development; LETS and
the inner city; Explorations in Heterotopia: the micropolitics of money,
work and community. Conclusions: Conclusions: the long term trajectory of
LETS; Index.
Reviews
'This in-depth analysis of the potential of alternative currencies as a way
of contesting neoliberal globalization goes beyond the original hopes and
dreams of those who set them up to explore the lived experiences of
participants. This book reveals how localization is being put into practice
in everyday life and provides a thoughtful reflection on the possibilities
for imagining and enacting real-life alternatives to the global free
market.' Professor Colin C. Williams, University of Leicester, UK
'All economies/economic geographies are heterogeneous, although much
economic theory and policy likes to assume otherwise. Peter North's study
of local currencies is based on deep immersion in the LETS movement and its
divergences as well as in a critical understanding of social movements. The
book offers a decade-long assessment of LETS and their vital contribution
to the ways in which we must rethink money and economic practice.' Roger
Lee, Professor of Geography, Queen Mary, University of London, UK
About the Author/Editor
Peter North is a Lecturer in the Department of Geography at the University
of Liverpool, UK.
Further Information
Affiliation: Peter North, University of Liverpool, UK
Illustrations: Includes 2 b&w illustrations
ISBN: 0 7546 4591 6
Publication Date: 02/2006
Number of Pages: c. 260 pages
Binding: Hardback
Peter North
Department of Geography
University of Liverpool
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