Recently, Michel brought to my attention Irene Sotiropoulou’s paper titled “Alternative Exchange Systems in Contemporary Greece” published at IJCCR (freely available).

This report distinguishes several grassroots initiatives in parallel currencies, which are not supported by any authority; exchange/barter networks; free bazaars; and free networks that have been emerging in Greece during the last five years.

The Athens Timebank, established in 2006 and run by the Greek branch of the European Network of Woman, is a form of parallel currency that follows the general structure of time banks, i.e. “a ‘network’ of individuals who are offering services to other members of the group. In reward, the member gains ‘time’ so that he/she is able to ask for the other members’ services”. (27) Sotiropoulou outlines: “The value of the services is accounted in time hours. The transactions and the time hours credited and debited for each participant are recorded in a computer with software created by a volunteer”. (27)

Another parallel currency is the Ovolos scheme run in Patras and Thessaloniki since 2009, and based on the idea that “the members can use the Ovolos currency (which is virtual, e.g. on the main computer system and on each member’s digital smart card) instead of euro currency for their transactions with the members”. (28) It would be interesting to highlight that Ovolos currency, according to Sotiropoulou, is used by several people who do not live or work in the two aforementioned Greek cities: “This has created a peculiar situation, where locality of transactions is not linked necessarily to the ‘base cities’. The Ovolos organisers see this as an advantage, which will make Ovolos an online technology platform available to all people living in the country, enabling them to experiment”. (28)

In addition, the Local Alternative Unit based in Volos city as well as the Money Back System, which is a hybrid scheme that combines exchange trade but also monetary elements and is based in Crete and Dodecanese, are two other interesting cases of parallel currency under development.

Except for parallel currencies, Sotiropoulou refers to various exchange networks “either of general nature or specialised in one sector of an activity”. (30) In her account, Peliti comes to the fore, which was founded in 2007, covers both rural and urban areas and its structure consists of two separate but interrelated networks: a network for exchanging goods and services, and another one that enables people “to exchange or just find for free traditional varieties of plants (either fruit or decorative trees, vegetables, flowers etc) and to acquire (at the cost of breeding only) several traditional species of domestic animals.” (30)

Further, the free exchange bazaars are places where people bring things to exchange or give away them. Since 2009,  as Sotiropoulou mentions, first free exchange bazaars’ dispersion, volume and regularity have greatly increased not only in Athens, where the Sporos cooperative -the initiator of such projects- is based, but in several other cities.

Moreover, the free networks, in that context, are online platforms which, more or less, work as free exchange online bazaars: the Charise-to platform, the Dose-Pare initiative or the Greek network of Freecycle are only some projects that exemplify this exchange pattern of free online networks.

——A last word——

Examining the Argentine economic crisis (1999-2003) and the alternative exchange models that emerged and the role they played at that time, it could be argued that although the alternative exchange systems seem, for the moment, to have a peripheral, as an economic trend, role, after a possible Greek bankruptcy they will arguably come to the fore.