Community and Money

At the beginning of the 21st century the three most important concerns in the developed nations are remarkably convergent - unemployment, the environment and community breakdown. As emerging technologies and booming birth rates promise to keep unemployment and the environment a problem, so is community breakdown one of the most systemic, deep and complex societal trends of the past thirty years, with no signs of any reversal. The research that has gone into COMMUNITY AND MONEY, as well as the conclusions that can be drawn from it, look towards a long-term structural approach to resolving these problems by rediscovering the concept of community currency. Taking as an example communities in Ontario and New York, this book, through a combination of theory, practical implementation and personal interviews, offers a guide to some very attractive alternatives to traditional currency transactions - the goal of which is to encourage [re]localisation of the production of wealth, consumption and exchange; fairly remunerate work that is un- or under-paid; and build a sense of community through personalised, face-to-face transactions.