The kernel of this economic model are the so-called local exchange networks (or exchange groups), which are usually made up of tens or hundreds of members who exchange products and services by using their own digital currencies. In essence, each exchange network constitutes a self-organized marketplace for the local community in which its members can buy and sell locally-available products and services. The payment can take the form of barter exchange or if that is not possible, it can be made by means of the local currency used by each exchange network. Transactions made by using these local currencies are based on the principle of mutual credit, which means that when a transaction between two persons occurs, the account of one person is credited, the other’s debited. To illustrate with an example: if two individuals have no credits in their account and they exchange a loaf of bread at a price of 3 “monetary units”, then one of them will end up with 3 units and the other with 3 units below zero (that is, a “negative balance” of 3 units). From a technical point of view, keeping track of transactions and of members’ credit and debit balances is done through online platforms known as community exchange systems. These platforms constitute the tool with which members of exchange networks manage their accounts, as well as a virtual marketplace for buying and selling locally-available products and services.

A documentary about the local exchange network in Garrotxa

In Catalonia, in specific, there are more than 40 exchange networks known as “eco-networks” (“ecoxarxes” in Catalan) because of the local Catalan currency “eco”, some variant of which they all use. Its “birth” in Catalonia can be traced back to 2009 – about a year before the formation of the CIC in 2010 – when the eco-networks of Tarragona and Montseny introduced their own alternative currency (CIC 2015, Flores 2015).

Number of transactions per month in CIC’s eco-network (Source: IntegralCES)

Although their size differs substantially, some eco-networks have thousands of members: indicatively, the eco-network launched by CIC in 2010 has 2782 members (IntegralCES). From a technical point of view, the operation of about half of the eco-networks is based on the community exchange system (CES), while the rest, including the CIC, have “migrated” to the IntegralCES platform, which was developed upon the initiative of the CIC and several eco-networks as a modified version of CES that is adapted to their local needs.

The IntegralCES homepage

Despite the fact that eco-networks represent an autonomous local structure, they are not cut off from each other: first of all, the software platforms they rely upon for their operation make it possible for members of different eco-networks to engage in transactions. Secondly, though each eco-network has its own autonomous assembly, they are all connected through the “institutions of meta-governance” evolved by the community of eco-networks, such as the “Space for the coordination of social currencies” (Espai de coordinació de monedes socials) and the so-called Bioregional assemblies of the South and the North of Catalonia, which serve as an informally-organized coordinating organ for eco-networks across the Catalan territory.

Bioregional assembly (Ultramort, May 2016)

These are the outlines of the economic ecosystem in which the CIC is embedded and which it proposes as a tool for the transition to the post-capitalist society it envisions: a horizontally organized network of self-managed exchange networks with their own community currencies.

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The CASX logo

Launched in 2012 as an “autonomous project of collective initiative” of the CIC, CASX has been operating as a co-op since 2013, using the legal form of Xarxa d’Autogestio Social SCCL, which is one of the “legal tools” the CIC offers to its member-projects. Presently, CASX has 155 members, of which many represent other cooperatives and collectivities. The membership fee for individual projects is 15 euros and 51 euros for collective projects. Taking into account the activist character of the project as well as the fact that deposits to CASX are interest-free, it is truly remarkable that the total amount of deposits made in the last four years exceeds 250 thousand euros (for a more detailed analysis, see graph below).

CASX deposits (Source: CASX presentation at the permanent assembly of the CIC, 2015)

The members of CASX make decisions based on consensus through its assembly, which takes place once a month at AureaSocial. In case that consensus is not possible among co-op members as to whether a project should be funded or not, “the ones that agree to go on with the funding can do so individually” by using their personal CASX deposits in a manner akin to crowd-funding (CIC). As fas as its daily operation is concerned, CASX relies on two CIC members, who receive a basic income of 70 “monetary units” (which, in their case, amount to 60 euros and 10 ecos) per month.

CASX has suspended temporarily its operation since the beginning of the year in order to re-engineer its organization around a deposits and funding model based exclusively on ecos, which is slated to roll out when CASX resumes its operation in about two months. Alongside with the implementation of this business model, one of CASX’s goals for the future is the decentralization of its model through its local reproduction “so that every neighborhood, town or city can start generating their own CASX assembly, redirecting the resources of their local members to local projects” (CIC).

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The reception dimly illuminated, a few minutes before closing down for the night

Through these reports, I will try to document some of the projects and infrastructures developed by the CIC in Catalonia.

AureaSocial’s entrance

AureaSocial is an open space for health, education and self-management. It operates as a co-op since 2010 and is one of the so-called “autonomous projects of collective initiative” of the CIC, which was launched with the aim of exemplifying CIC’s post-capitalist vision and the principles of the integral revolution. Actually, the story of the building is quite interesting: the building belongs to a company which resorted to leasing it to the CIC (in exchange for a symbolic rent) when it went bankrupt six years ago, thereby obstructing the legal process of seizure and foreclosure by the bank. This is, in short, the “strategy” that allows the CIC to appropriate this space and use it for a multitude of activities: such as for many of the meetings and assemblies of the CIC committees; for public talks, seminars, conferences and films; for yoga and kung-fu; for psychological support sessions and physiotherapy; and for all sorts of workshops (anything from workshops about how to improve one’s humour to vegan cooking)[1]. The space also hosts the office of the committee of economic management of the CIC, a free public library, a gift shop for clothes and the central warehouse of the CAC in the city, which operates as a collection point and distribution depot for a wide spectrum of products – from bread and beer to shampoo and toothpaste – ordered by members of CIC’s network in Catalonia (and which, of course, are supplied by other members of the network).

At the terrace of AureaSocial

AureaSocial is paradigmatic of the self-employment model evolved by the CIC. Most of the rooms on the 1^st floor are used as coop-working spaces during the day (from 10.00 to 20.00): they are rented by freelancers such as psychologists and physiotherapists, who, as self-employed members of the cooperative (the so-called “auto-ocupados”), use them for their professional activities. The building constitutes thus a critical organizational infrastructure for the CIC and at the same time a space hosting the entrepreneurial activities (which are unrelated to CIC’s internal organization) of members of CIC’s cooperative network. Renting out the rooms in this way generates a monthly income of about two thousand so-called “monetary units”, which means that auto-ocupados can pay for their rent either in euros or ecos, using the distributed social currency used by the CIC and by several eco-networks in Catalonia. This income is then used by the committee of economic management to cover various needs of the cooperative, such as the provision of the basic income [2] received by committee members or the payment of utility bills for Aurea Social. To ensure that nobody is excluded from making use of the coop-working spaces, an alternative way by which auto-ocupados can pay for their rent is by contributing through their labour: for example, by working at the reception or helping to clean up the building.

I hope the above notes give you an idea of what an interesting place AureaSocial must be! In my next post, I’ll write about another very interesting autonomous project of collective initiative, MaCUS.

Notes

[1] Here’s the calendar of public activities at AureaSocial: https://teamup.com/ks2721d89e700255bc

[2] The amount of basic income received by committee members is not the same for everyone, but is determined in agreement between each member and the committee of economic management. In short, the committee asks each member the amount that he or she needs. However, no member receives more than 765 euros and 135 ecos per month.

 *We are grateful for the support of the Robin Hood Cooperative, which has provided funding for this study.

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