Grassroots Economics
= refers to distinct European and African-centric initiatives
Europe
URL = http://www.ub.edu/grassrootseconomics/
"Our project proposes a bottom-up approach to economic dynamics. It is dedicated to give theoretical value to non-academic intellectual models that guide economic practice and to explain their significance for understanding the large scale economy. Four Southern European countries –Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain— have been strategically selected as research sites due to their relevance in the current European crisis."
(http://www.ub.edu/grassrootseconomics/?page_id=8
More Information
- research papers, http://www.ub.edu/grassrootseconomics/?page_id=1480
Kenya, Africa
Will Ruddick:
1.
"'Grassroots' is a term used to describe bottom-up and community-driven systems, noting that a single root of grass does little to hold the soil together, while grass roots woven together are incredibly strong. This exploration is grounded in the work of Grassroots Economics (GrE), a non-profit foundation based in Kenya since 2009, dedicated to nurturing prospering economies built by thriving communities in diverse settings including urban, rural, peri-urban, and refugee areas. Believing in the power of group resource coordination for well-being, GrE initiatives have extended across over 100 communities in Kenya, with growing impacts in other nations."
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2.
"The study of Resource Coordination in Ancient Cultures often centers around themes of colonization, power structures, and hierarchies, eclipsing interest in understanding the harmonious social dynamics that previously existed. Pioneers like Marcel Mauss (2016/1950) observed communities supporting each other without apparent reciprocity or monetary exchange, a phenomenon that he memorably labeled “gift economies.” The term has had the unfortunate effect of implying that these cultures were astonishingly altruistic and self-sacrificial, and somehow abnormal. Yet, as I have observed at GrE, through accounts from living elders, traditional cultures that thrive without money or markets have utilized myriad resource coordination and exchange systems such as calendars, ledgers, indirect reciprocity, accounting, debt systems and resource pooling.
I founded GrE without a deep understanding of these non-monetary systems, by following the path of Community and Complementary Currencies as described by Bernard Lietaer (2013). This inspiring field led me to believe that by redesigning or reinventing money, I could bring about systemic change to advance well-being. It was a worthwhile strategy, yet it sometimes felt strange to apply a complex jumble of modern economic concepts to social circumstances in Africa. The ideas didn’t have clear grounding.
I began introducing these concepts with local communities in 2010 by sharing information about projects like Worgl in Austria, Deli Dollars (now BerkShares) in Massachusetts, and Bancos Palmas in Brazil. All of these projects had developed some form of community money, a bearer instrument that could, under certain conditions (which we will expand on further), act as a medium of exchange.
Following this introduction by 2014, dozens of initial groups in Kenya developed their own common voucher denominated in national currency (Kenyan Shillings). Vouchers were divided among participants based on their capacity to offer goods or services to the community. The vouchers (denominated in Kenyan Shillings) represented commitments created by group members, redeemable as payment for their goods and services. Features like demurrage – the gradual expiration of the quantity of vouchers held by anyone and renewed into a community fund – helped discourage hoarding and encourage circulation. "
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