Alternative organizations in finance: commoning in complementary currencies

The commons are alternative social and economic practices for fostering community development and regeneration. While the role of finance is increasingly criticized as a trigger for individualism, community currencies (CCs) are one of the financial initiatives that aim to reorganize finance in the collective interest. We analyze to what extent these alternative systems allow finance to constitute common goods, or ‘commons’. To this end, we investigate the commoning practices through which resources are created, distributed and consumed in a way that promotes new collectives. We analyze the extent to which CCs can be considered as commons. Our findings suggest that, although these monetary services are privately used and consumed, they have strong collective attributes such as community-building as well as the insertion of solidarity and cooperative values in money. Finally, we inquire into the limits and ambiguities of these alternatives relative to the capitalist system.