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CHAPTER 9
THE TOTNES POUND:
A GRASSROOTS
TECHNOLOGICAL NICHE
Noel Longhurst
INTRODUCTION
Over the last 30 years, a range of different complementary currency modelshave been developed and diffused across the world. Such currency systemshave been researched from a variety of different perspectives, such as policytools (Williams et al., 2001) and social movements (North, 2006). Many ofthese have explicit links to sustainability objectives and the green movement(Helleiner, 2000; Longhurst & Seyfang, 2011; North, 2010a; Seyfang, 2009),and some environmental writers argue that monetary reform and thedevelopment of multiple currency systems are critical factors in achievingenvironmental sustainability (Douthwaite, 1999). This chapter explains howsuch a ‘green’ currency emerged from within the environmentally focusedTransition Town social movement. This movement has given rise to a rangeof locally based grassroots enterprises that deliver local services and goods.However, it is argued here that such enterprises can also act as instigators ofradical innovations, such as complementary currencies. As such itconceptualises currencies as a form of technology and uses the empiricalcase of the Totnes Pound currency as an example of a technology that hasemerged from civil society. Adopting this framing, the chapter draws on
Enterprising Communities: Grassroots Sustainability InnovationsAdvances in Ecopolitics, Volume 9, 163–188Copyright r 2012 by Emerald Group Publishing LimitedAll rights of reproduction in any form reservedISSN: 2041-806X/doi:10.1108/S2041-806X(2012)0000009012
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theory relating to the formation of innovative technological ‘niches’ toprovide insights into the challenges that they have to overcome in order tosurvive and flourish. The chapter therefore argues that exploringcomplementary currencies through the lens of innovation theory canprovide valuable insights into their development, and that such an approachmay prove useful where grassroots enterprises are engaged in other forms ofinnovative activity.
This chapter is based on participatory research with the Totnes Poundcurrency during 2007 and 2008, as part of wider research into thepostcapitalist economy of the Totnes area (see Longhurst, 2010b). The firstsection of this chapter briefly sets out the theoretical framing that is beingadopted. The second section provides an overview of the development of theTotnes Pound. The third section then explores the experiment using some ofthe conceptual tools from innovation theories, particularly strategic nichemanagement (SNM). The chapter concludes by summarising the lessonsthat this particular analytical frame has for currency developers, and forgrassroots innovation in more general.
COMPLEMENTARY CURRENCIESAS TECHNOLOGIES
There is increasing academic and political interest in processes of socialinnovation.1 understood here to encompass
innovative activities and services that are motivated by the goal of meeting a social needand that are predominantly diffused through organizations whose primary purposes aresocial.
Mulgan (2006, p. 146)
Such innovation can take the form of new technologies, institutions,policies or practices. Social movements have been identified as one of thepossible sources of social innovation (Mulgan, Tucker, Ail, & Sanders,2007). Within the environmental field, this argument is supported by thosescholars who have highlighted that actors from civil society are not onlyengaged in ‘contentious politics’ but are also involved in processes ofinnovation whereby solutions to environmental problems are developed andtested (Davies & Mullin, 2011; Hess, 2005, 2007; Lounsbury, Venresca, &Hirsch, 2003; Seyfang & Smith, 2007; Smith, forthcoming; Toke, 2011;Verheul & Vergragt, 1995). Such innovative activities can be regarded as
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forms of ‘outsider’ innovation, which, it has been argued, is the origin ofmany new ideas (van de Poel, 2000). This body of work has highlighted therole that social movement organisations (SMOs) and nongovernmentalorganisations (NGOs) can play in the development of technologies such asorganic food and wind turbines. Seyfang and Smith (2007) argue that theseforms of ‘grassroots innovations’ may have the potential to stimulate widersystemic change, but that they face various challenges due to their socialeconomy context. Complementary currencies reflect one such form ofinnovation (see Seyfang, 2009), but have rarely been analyzed as such (foran exception see Douthwaite, 2002).
Complementary currency systems are designed to provide a mechanism ofexchange, fulfilling at least one of the conventionally understood functions ofmoney.2 Since the early 1980s a range of different complementary currencieshave emerged, many of them from civil society (see Kent, 2005; North, 2010a;Schroeder, Miyazaki & Fare, 2011 for useful overviews). Innovation is aslippery term that often has close associations with technology (Rogers,2003). This chapter argues that it can be analytically useful to understandcomplementary currencies as technologies. Following Arthur (2009) con-ceptualising currencies as technologies means understanding them as‘purposed systems’: they are a means to fulfil a specified purpose; indeedArthur includes the monetary system as an example of purposed system. Oneof Arthur’s (2009) core definitions of technology is that it deliversfunctionalities. Technologies are means to meet certain identified ‘needs’.One recurring argument within the currency movement is that money issocially constructed rather than being a naturally emerging phenomenon orneutral mechanism (North, 2007). Therefore, the argument goes, it can beconstructed in different ways. As Bob Swann (1981), a pioneer of ‘neweconomics’ and advocate of complementary currencies, argues:
y from a technological viewpoint, money is a tool. Like any other tool it can be shapedto perform in different ways. Just as both a scythe and a combine are tools for cuttingwheat, so money may be designed to perform in different ways with different objectives.
Recognising that different complementary currencies have differentfunctionalities help explain the varied nomenclature that exists within thefield. For example, to some extent the labels of ‘social currencies’, ‘localcurrencies’ and ‘global currencies’ all relate to a primary functionality ofthe currency. However, it is also important tonote that, like other technologies,currencies can have multiple functionalities and are open to a certain degreeof ‘interpretive flexibility’ insofar as they can be utilised and understood indifferent ways by different users (Pinch & Bijker, 1987). Furthermore, the
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various users of currencies may attempt to use the currency for purposeswhich were unintended by the originators. For example, the Local ExchangeTrading System (LETS) currency system was first developed as an economictool, but was adopted by elements of theUK greenmovement as a mechanismwithwhich to build a parallel non-capitalist economy.3 Therefore, the currencyfield also exhibits the same phenomenon of user innovation that has beenobserved in other technological fields (von Hippel, 1988).
Conceptualising currencies as technologies opens up the application oftheories that attempt to explain the diffusion and evolution of technology.One such recent literature has emerged around the concept of ‘SustainabilityTransitions’ (see Grin, Rotmans, & Schot, 2010; Kemp, 2010; Smith, VoX, &Grin, 2010 for recent reviews). Focusing on ‘systems innovation’, much ofthis work has sought to explore the conditions under which new radicaltechnologies are able to scale up and challenge or displace existingincumbent socio-technical systems. As such, a range of different theoreticaltools have been developed to not only explain such processes but also bedeployed in order to support experimentation and implementation of‘radical’ technologies: that is, technologies that can transform the way inwhich specific societal functions are delivered (van de Poel, 2000). Withinthis wider literature, the concept of an innovative niche has become ofcentral concern, to the point where it has developed a number of competingand conflictive meanings (Raven, van den Bosch, & Weterings 2010). Aparticular strand of the literature, SNM, has focused on the importance of‘protective niches’ in nurturing new technologies before they are exposed tomarket competition. Early proponents of SNM were interested in howtechnological niches could be constructed that provided the protective spacein which promising new ‘green’ experimental technologies, such as electriccars, could be developed and nurtured (Kemp, Schot, & Hoogma, 1998).The starting point for such analyses is the novel technology, often an artifactitself (Geels, 2004; Raven et al., 2010). Such niches provide intentional andpartial protection from the selection environment (Coenen, Raven, &Verbong, 2009). Advocates of SNM start from the premise that
For some promising technologiesymarket niches do not emerge spontaneously. Insuch cases, proto-market niches might be created, what we call technological niches.In such technological niches specific advantages can be promised, but they are uncertainand not yet shared among the actors promoting the niches. Often, niche activities aregeared towards identifying and testing assumptions about specific advantages.Technological niches come about in form of experiments, and pilot and demonstrationprojects.
Hoogma, Kemp, Schot and Truffer (2002, p. 30)
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Empirical work on SNM has led to three different sets of processes beingidentified which lead to flows of resources and the development of networksthat enable such experimental projects to ‘scale up’ (Raven, 2005; Schot &Geels, 2008):
1. Shaping heterogeneous social networks;2. Articulating shared, tangible and specific expectations; and3. Broad and second-order learning.
SNM is therefore about processes of institutional embedding and learning(Smith, 2007). Since its initial development SNM has been developed in anumber of directions, and there is no space to fully review the widerliterature here. However, to date SNM has tended to be applied tocommercial technologies that are expected to scale up via the market. Whilstit has been recognised that such technological niches can originate in civilsociety (Verheul & Vergragt, 1995), there has been little detailed empiricalwork on technological niches that develop in civil society. In particular, thefact that some social innovation emerges in non-market contexts (Davies &Mullin, 2011; Mulgan et al., 2007; Seyfang & Smith, 2007) raises questionsabout the emergence, nature and trajectory of such innovative niches. Theempirical example of experimental complementary currencies – such as theTotnes Pound – therefore offers the possibility of exploring suchtechnological niches.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE TOTNES POUNDCOMPLEMENTARY CURRENCY4
The Totnes Pound emerged as a project from the Transition Town Totnes(TTT) initiative that began in September 2006 in the market town of Totnes,Devon. TTT was designed and instigated by Rob Hopkins as a ‘bottom-up’response to ‘peak oil’ (the perceived threat of imminent oil depletion) andclimate change (Hopkins, 2008). The Transition Town initiative is intendedas a multifaceted, grassroots initiative that mobilises the community toaddress these threats through processes of community planning andbuilding of ‘parallel public infrastructure’ (Bailey, Hopkins, & Wilson,2010). The model advocates a number of stages including the establishing ofthematic groups who take the lead developing projects relating to foodproduction, energy efficiency etc. Some of these groups develop initiatives
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which become stand-alone grassroots enterprises. Thus, the Totnes Poundemerged from the Economics and Livelihoods sub-group early in 2007.
The original inspiration for the Totnes Pound came from a short courseon the ‘Future of Money’ at Schumacher College near Totnes in January2006. One of the teachers on the course was Bernard Lietaer, a formerCentral Bank executive in Belgium who was involved in the design andimplementation of the ECU currency convergence mechanism that precededthe launch of Euro. Following a distinguished career in the financialindustries, Lietaer has become an active advocate for local currencies andmonetary reform (Lietaer, 2001; Lietaer & Hallsmith, 2006). SchumacherCollege is recognised as a site of ecological thinking with connections towider ‘alternative’ networks (Corrywright, 2004; Thrift, 1999). Lietaer’spresentation contained details of the BerkShares, local currency fromupstate New York. The idea which led to the Transition currency model wastherefore ‘carried’ by the networks of Schumacher College and was then‘translated’ into the Totnes Pound model.5 Rob Hopkins saw the TotnesPounds as a potential mechanism to relocalise the local economy, a coreobjective of the Transition Town movement (Hopkins, 2008; North, 2010b).
The first version of the Totnes Pound was issued inMarch 2007. Because ofcost constraints the first-phase notes were very simple, compliment-slip-sizednotes, printed on durable paper, but with no discernable security features. Onthe front was an image of an original Totnes Pound from 1810 (see Fig. 1).The reverse contained background information about the currency. Therewere also boxes that accepting shops and users could sign so TTT volunteers
Fig. 1. Front of First Phase Totnes Pound Note.
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could track the circulation of the currency. Three hundred Totnes Poundnotes were given away at a meeting, or ‘gifted’ into circulation. It wasexplained to the audience that this was an experiment and that they should goand spend them with the 18 participating businesses, and ask for TotnesPounds in change at other businesses, to spread use.
Phase one of the Totnes Pound received considerable media attentionlocally, nationally and internationally. At the end of the pilot phase, theproject team met to consider the feedback received and to decide whether tocontinue the experiment or whether to stop and spend some time planningand resourcing a longer-term model. The decision was made to build on theexisting momentum, and plans for the issuing of a phase-two note werequickly developed and implemented.
Phase two was conceived as a bigger experiment to test the system further.The intention was to put up to 10,000 one Totnes Pound notes intocirculation for a period of six months – July to December 2007. The scaling-up of the project bought a number of important considerations into play.Whereas the first phase had been a playful experiment, with the noteseffectively ‘backed’ by trust in Rob Hopkins and TTT, the plannedexpansion of circulation meant that the project team had to ensure thatthere was confidence in the currency. The phase-two note therefore had anumber of additional security features built into it.
It was also decided that the phase-two notes should be ‘backed’ withsterling. It was at this point that the Totnes Pound began to more closelyresemble the BerkShares model. Because of the need to change sterling intoTotnes Pounds, three businesses and the Totnes Museum were recruited toact as exchange points to enable the phase-two Totnes Pounds to be‘purchased’ at a rate of d9.50 for 10 Totnes Pounds. This 5-percent discountproved to be a very good incentive for those purchasing the Totnes Poundsin the early months of phase two. Fifty or so local businesses were recruitedfor phase two and were formally signed up to participate. Businesses wereable to circulate the notes by giving them back as change, or by spendingthem with suppliers and other participating businesses. Otherwise they couldexchange surplus Totnes Pounds back for sterling at the same 5-percent rateof exchange, that is, ten Totnes Pounds for d9.50. This, it was hoped, wouldencourage businesses to move the currency on, rather than simply exchangeit back. Businesses were able to set their own level of participation. Sometook five Totnes Pounds per transaction, whereas others took just one. Bythe end of phase two, just over 6,000 notes had gone into circulation.
In the short term ‘Totnes Currency’ was established as an unincorporatedcommunity organisation in order to open a bank account to hold the
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sterling that backed the currency. However, the upscaling of the projectmeant that it was necessary to develop more formal management andaccountability structures for the currency. The project team started theprocess of establishing a co-operative (Industrial and Provident Society) asthe longer-term legal form.
Phase three of the experiment began in January 2008 with a process ofreplacing the phase-two notes in circulation with a new phase-three note,designed by a local artist (Fig. 2). The other substantive change for phasethree was that the exchange rate was adjusted to parity with sterling,discussed below. Phase three was planned to last for at least a year, not leastbecause there is a time and resource implication involved in introducing a
Fig. 2. Phase 2 and 3 Totnes Pound Notes.
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new note. Owing to the loss of the 5-percent customer incentive, the projectteam began to encourage businesses to use the Totnes Pound creatively andcome up with their own discounts and incentives.
In July 2009 the Totnes Currency group decided that a proportion of thesterling on deposit should be put to work. The group offers interest-freeloans to projects within the community that are following through on theTransition ideals of rebuilding local resilience and reducing carbonemissions. The loans are between d300 and d500 for terms of six or twelvemonths. A Totnes Pound group is still meeting and the notes are stillcirculating. There are plans for further note issues, including a five-poundnote, but its longer-term success may depend on developments elsewhere(see below). The trajectory of the pound during its first few years is nowexplored through its framing as an experimental technological niche.
THE TOTNES POUND ASAN EXPERIMENTAL NICHE
This section explores the development of the Totnes Pound through the lensof three niche processes: niche formation, managing of expectations, andlearning processes.
Niche Formation
Smith and Raven (2011) set out a number of different ‘dimensions’ of nicheprotection:
– Industrial– Technological– Socio-cognitive– Market– Political– Cultural
As an experimental niche the Totnes Pound did not have much in the wayof industrial, technological, political or market ‘protection’. Instead theexperimental ‘space’ was initially created by specific localised (geographic)socio-cognitive and cultural factors. Firstly, the currency was launchedunder the auspices of the TTT initiative. At the time of launch this was notonly a burgeoning local environmental network but was also rapidly
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diffusing to other areas via the Transition Network, also based in Totnes.The volunteers who provided the primary resource for developing thesystem were therefore drawn primarily from within the local TTT network.Secondly, the project benefited from the existence of a localised ‘counter-cultural’ milieu that has developed since the 1970s (Longhurst, 2010b).There was therefore a certain amount of intellectual ‘space’ for anexperiment like the Totnes Pound created by the localised environmentalsub-cultures and wider countercultural milieu. Indeed there had previouslybeen a very successful LETS currency system in the area (Granger,Wringe, & Andrews, 2010; Williams, 1995).
Niches can be understood as networks of actors who are connected insome way to a given experiment, as ‘platforms of interaction’ (Kemp et al.,1998, p. 186). The size of these networks, the resources which flow throughthem, and their overall trajectory (i.e., are they expanding or retracting) areall factors which indicate the relative success of any given niche at any givenpoint in time. Pinch and Bijker (1987) argue that certain ‘relevant’ groupscan be identified for any given technology and, following this, a number ofdifferent relevant groups were involved in the construction of the TotnesPound niche insofar as they played a direct role in the functioning of thesystem and the flows of resources, as illustrated by Fig. 3.
Totnes Pound
Project Team
Managed project on a day to day basis
Businesses
Accepted currency and recirculated it
Consumers
Used currency for purchases
Other volunteers
Provide ad hoc support
Other TTT projects and activists
Provide advice and some support
Schumacher College
support
Totnes and District Chamber of Commerce
Endorsed the project
Fig. 3. Relevant Groups in the Totnes Pound Niche.
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Of course, Fig. 3 is a simplification in the sense that some individuals weremembers of a number of different groups. As Pinch and Bijker (1987) note,it might also be necessary to break down groups into sub-groups. However,even this level of analysis provides some useful insights by shifting the focusof analysis to the set of relations that exist around the technology. The firstis that it can shed light on the dynamics of the niche formation process overtime. For example, both the consumer and business groups expanded in sizeduring phase two. The niche building undertaken by the project team wastherefore focused primarily on building the size of key actor groups ratherthan trying to bring in new niche actors. Mapping the niche network in thisway therefore draws attention to the flow of resources that allow theexperiment to exist. In the case of the Totnes Pound, the primary source ofresource was the voluntary labour of the Totnes Currency project team, withsome contribution from other volunteers, TTT activists and SchumacherCollege. The project team itself exhibited slow growth, with new membersoccasionally coming forward. However, despite regular appeals forvolunteers, it remained under-resourced to deal with managing the fullextent of the project. A currency project struggling for volunteers is not anunusual phenomenon (Aldridge & Patterson, 2002) and is perhaps areflection of their slightly unusual nature. Thiel (2011) suggests that they aretoo economic for social volunteers and too alternative for politicalvolunteers. The Totnes Pound also lacked a key activist that North(2010c) suggests is key to the longevity of some systems. During the first twoyears the project team did attempt to expand the niche by securing fundingfrom external sponsors. However, it was difficult to find foundations andtrusts who were interested in funding a currency experiment; moreover, thebids that were submitted were rejected. The project team therefore found itdifficult to expand the niche to enrol actors from whom supportive resourcescould flow, such as public bodies.6
Credibility has also been identified as something that is important inexpanding experimental niches (Smith et al., 2010; van de Poel, 2000). TheTotnes Pound case suggests that there are two ways in which credibility isimportant in such niches. Firstly, the process of niche construction is in parta process of expanding a ‘problem frame’. It is therefore an example ofwhere SMOs such as TTT act as a cognitive actor by articulating a problemframe that motivates a response (Benford & Snow, 2000). Here it is arguedthat a problem frame is a necessary precursor to any given social innovation,just as it is for any conventional innovation (Arthur, 2009). Persuadingpotential niche actors of the credibility of the frame is therefore one way ofdrawing in new niche actors. Thus, it was the wider problem frames
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(peak oil/climate change/economic globalisation) that drew in many of theTTT volunteers as was the Chamber of Commerce, whose chair at that timewas a small businessman and former activist. However, it is not essentialthat niche actors share the wider problem frame if they find the technologyitself credible and meets specific needs.
One way in which to understand this process of niche building is toconceptualise the currency as a ‘boundary object’. First proposed by Starrand Griesemer (1989) the concept of a boundary object has been developedin a number of different directions. This chapter follows Wenger’s (1998,p. 107) suggestion that boundary objects are ‘artifacts’ that they link anumber of constituencies with a ‘nexus of perspectives’. Therefore, what isimportant about boundary objects is that they mean different things to thedifferent groups that they connect. Understood in this way the process ofniche building can be conceptualised as a process of negotiating andmaintaining the different relationships to the object that holds the wholeniche together. Understanding a technology as a boundary object meansmaintaining a range of meaningful functionalities for the different niche-actors. Niche building becomes a process of maintaining a field ofinteraction around a given technological experiment.7
Managing Expectations and Functionalities
The overall objective of the Totnes Pound was to support the local economyand the process of economic relocalisation that the Transition Town processwas attempting to promote.
One of the key challenges of any relocalisation process it that of economics; the fact thatso much money, and the potential it represents to make things happen, pours out of acommunity in much the same way as water pours from a leaky bucket.
Hopkins (2008, p.197)
Here it is evident how the currency system represents a form of socialinnovation, that it has been developed to address a perceived collectivesocietal problem, that of ‘leaky’ local economies (e.g. see Shuman, 2000;Ward & Lewis, 2002). What is notable about this kind of experiment is thatthe constituency for whom this core function is being delivered is animagined collective entity – it is the local economy or community who isanticipated to benefit from the successful implementation of the technology.However, in order for the system to hold together, it needs to deliver
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functions to key relevant social groups. Table 1 summarises some of theprimary functions that the currency performed for these groups.
Table 1 illustrates that whilst the Totnes Pound was intended as aneconomic project, it delivered a wider range of functions. For TTT, one of themain functions of the Totnes Pound experiment was as an example of theTransition Town project ‘in action’. This was important because the wholeTransition Town process is predicated on the efficacy of ‘bottom-up’grassroots activism (Hopkins, 2008). As Hopkins notes (2008, p. 197) theTotnes Pound was by far the most high profile of the TTT projects and playedan important role in raising awareness of the wider Transition movement.
In general, businesses were not recruited by attempting to draw them intothe problem frames that underpinned the experiment. Instead, the currencywas often portrayed as a form of local ‘loyalty scheme’ which would increasetheir trade, and which would increase the ‘local economic multiplier’.Attention was also drawn to the fact that it was good publicity for the townand the business itself. The currency was expected to deliver a mixture ofdirect and indirect economic benefits. However, during the first 18 monthsof the experiment it was difficult for the project team to produce anyevidence that it had a significant economic impact on any of the memberbusinesses. Consequently, the most supportive businesses were thereforethose who did share the problem frames underpinning the niche, andtherefore supported it for political reasons and were therefore more tolerantof the economic shortcomings.
Table 1. Primary Functions for Key Relevant Groups.
Economic Political Publicity
TransitionTown Totnes
– Example of TransitionTown in action
– Evidence of the potentialof ‘bottom-up’community-based action.
– Publicity for TransitionTown project
Businesses – Increasedturnover
– Support for the TransitionTown project and ideasof relocalisation
– Local publicity forparticipating businesses
– Publicity for Totnes
Consumers – 5% discount(Phase 2)
– Support for TransitionTown project and ideasof relocalisation
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The 5-percent exchange discount in phase two gave a direct economicincentive to customers for using the Totnes Pound and generatedconsiderable interest and turnover of Totnes Pound at the start of phasetwo. However, it also created some circulation problems, with customersunwilling to receive the notes as change and businesses unwilling to cashthem in for a loss. This issue was resolved by adjusting the discount at thestart of phase three so that Totnes Pound was at parity with sterling. Theeffect of this was to shift the economic balance towards the businesses.However, consumers lost the economic incentive to exchange sterling intoTotnes Pound, a core economic function for that group. The Totnes Poundgroup attempted to encourage businesses to offer their own discounts toreplace the 5-percent discount, but these were difficult to publicise andarrange. As such, the turnover of notes appeared to slow down and becameincreasingly limited to those for whom using Totnes Pound was motivatedby other functions that it delivered, for example, as an expression of politicalsupport for the local economy or the Transition Town initiative. Again, itseems likely that such users shared the problem frames underpinning theexperiment. Whereas for other observed uses such as gift vouchers orsouvenirs, the currency performed other functions that were not dependenton these frames.
Proponents of SNM suggest that expectation management is consideredto be a key aspect of successful innovation development (Raven, 2005). Thisbrief discussion has illustrated the way in which the Totnes Pound wasexpected to meet different needs of different niche actor groups.Furthermore, to successfully deliver the principal environmental function-ality (relocalise the economy) requires the successful delivery of a range ofsub-functionalities to a range of different groups. Therefore, maintainingthe niche requires ongoing efforts to improve the delivery of certainfunctions. Managing and modulating expectations about the performanceof these functions is an ongoing task in the face of new problems that arise,and the case illustrates the potential difficulty in developing functions thatare shared across the different relevant groups. The publicity functionalitywas principally valued by TTT itself and perhaps by some businesses, butwas of little interest to consumers. The lack of direct economic benefit forbusinesses and consumers meant that, over time, the project reliedincreasingly on those for whom it delivered a certain political functionality.Whilst there was some shared alignment between the three groups, it wasonly amongst those who shared the problem frame that underpinned theexperiment. Thus, growth of the niche could only be achieved by drawingnew actors into this frame.
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One way in which the management of expectations has been explored isthrough the lens of a ‘promise–requirement cycle’.8 This explains howdevelopers of new technologies formulate promises about the functionalityand future performance in order to generate support from sponsors andsupporters (Geels & Raven, 2006, p. 376). However, often it can be difficultto fulfil these promises in the early stages of development. In this case, theproject team and TTT activists acted as the ‘lead articulators’ for thetechnology (van de Poel, 2000). Understood in this way, the process of nichedevelopment is a balancing act in making promises in order to engagepeople within the niche and then managing their expectations about thefunctionality and performance of the technology. Thus, the literature onSNM suggests that experimental niche participants must be willing to acceptunderperformance of the technology, but this is difficult when a claims-making process is necessary to build the niche. Indeed, the literaturesuggests that over-promising is a recurring problem in currency experiments(Aldridge & Patterson, 2002; Stott & Hodges, 1996). Understanding them astechnological experiments sheds some light on this particular problem. TheTotnes Pound case also resonates with Douthwaite’s (2002) argument thatone of the problems with currency experiments is that it is difficult to buildin necessary learning processes because of the way in which they have tounfold as ‘real-life’ experiments over a period of time. This kind ofgrassroots experimentation is also difficult because the experiment takesplace in a less controlled environment than otherwise might be the case withsome other forms of technological experiments (see e.g. ‘Bounded Socio-technical Experiments’ described by Brown, Vergragt, Green, & Berchicci,2003). This is something that is explored further in the next section.
Learning Processes
The literature on technological niches argues that learning is a critical factorin successful niche development. Certainly in its first couple of years therewas a great deal of what might be considered ‘first-order’ learning. This islearning about the actual performance of the currency. Attempting toresolve these problems resulted in what Arthur (2009) calls ‘standardengineering’, the resolution of sub-problems within a given technical system.Fig. 4 details some of the problems that were encountered by three of therelevant social groups discussed in the last section.
Much of the early work of the Totnes Pound team was spent on problemP1: ensuring that there were enough places for the currency to be spent in
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Totnes Pound Project Team
Businesses
Consumers
P2
Consumers refusing Totnes
Pounds as change (Phase 2)
P3
Totnes Pounds with suppliers
P6
Lack of economic incentive (Phase 3)
P1
Lack of opportunity to spend
P4
Lack of local banking
infrastructure
P5
Lack of resources
Fig. 4. Problems Faced by Niche Group Actors (after Pinch & Bijker, 1987).
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order to enable it to circulate. Recruiting business members was therefore apriority in phase two. As this phase proceeded, the unanticipated problemP3 arose. As already discussed this problem was resolved by adjusting theexchange rate with sterling, but this created a new problem for consumers(P6). In managing these problems and maintaining the experiment, theproject team was required to deal with a lack of sufficient resources (P5).Indeed, resources were dedicated to addressing this problem through bidsand approaches to sponsors (niche building). As Schroeder et al. (2011) haveargued, the project team learned that there is a lot of unglamorous workinvolved in running currency schemes and which is often overlooked in theliterature (see also Aldridge & Patterson, 2002).
The experiment was also hindered by (P4) the lack of a supportive bankingsystem that has been an important element of similar local currency systems inthe United States (BerkShares) and Germany (Regiogeld). Such involvementprovides both credibility and additional technologies that can be integratedinto the currency system such as bank accounts and electronic transfers.Using the language of Taylor (2010) we can understand the Totnes Pound asbeing insufficiently entailed. In other words, it lacked the infrastructure tofunction as desired. Indeed, the problem of businesses transacting in thecurrency (P3) suggested the need for an electronic dimension to the currency.Many of these problems undermined the ability of the currency to fulfil itscore functionality of increasing local economic circuits of value.
Developing an electronic dimension to the currency system was identifiedas a possible solution to some of these first-order problems. Not only couldthis facilitate business-to-business transactions, but such a system also offeredthe potential to overcome the (P5) resource deficiencies of the experiment byenabling small transaction fees to be charged. Such transaction fees wouldalso create a new ‘comparative advantage’ for the technology in that theycould potentially be lower than conventional credit/debit card basedtransactions. This would therefore enable the currency to fulfil a directeconomic functionality for business participants – reducing their operatingcosts. However, introducing an electronic dimension to the currency systemwas beyond the capacity of the project team at this early point in theexperiment. It reflected a substantial technological sub-system in its ownright. The ‘low tech’ nature of the experiment had enabled it to launch and getso far, but the technology was, after 18 months, pushing up against the limitsof what was possible with the current components.Developing the technologythrough the combination with electronic technologies required yet furtherresources, and was thus hindered by the project team’s inability to attractsponsors to the experimental social economy niche.
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Scholars who have studied technological niches have argued that inaddition to first-order learning it is important that second-order learningalso takes place. Second-order or ‘higher-order’ learning entails change innorms, assumptions and interpretive frames (Brown & Vergragt, 2008,p. 110). Without more specific data it is difficult to ascertain the extent towhich second-order learning took place during the early years of the TotnesPound experiment. However, at the very least, this chapter itself is evidenceof some kind of second-order learning, prompted as it is by the experiencesof the experiment. In arguing for a technological framing of currencies, it isarguing for an interpretative frame that does not conventionally appearwithin the literature on complementary currency systems, nor wasprominent during the experiment. It may be that other participants in theexperiment have also gone through similar shifts. However, a differentlearning-related development has been the development of an embryonic‘global niche’ around the Transition currency model. Geels and Raven(2006) proposed the concept of a ‘global’ niche to describe how theaggregation of local projects within a similar field can form:
an emerging field or proto-regime supported by a network of actors that is concernedwith defining decontextualised, shared rules such as problem agendas, search heuristicsand abstract theories and models, independent of their local context.
Coenen et al. (2009, p. 3)
A ‘global’ niche therefore reflects a network that connects together arange of different actors who are developing similar experimentaltechnologies and provides a mechanism by which information sharing andcollaboration is facilitated. In the case of the Totnes Pound, Fig. 5 describesthe emergence of a small, embryonic ‘global’ niche.
The Totnes Pound experiment inspired subsequent currency experimentsin Lewes (launched September 2008), Stroud (September 2009) and Brixton(September 2009) (see Ryan-Collins, 2011). Each of these was the result ofactivity within the local Transition initiatives, and although there wasinformal communication between the different experiments they weredeveloped fairly independently. Using the theoretical lens of this chapter,each of them developed as an independent ‘local’ experimental niche.Indeed, there was further ‘translation’ of the idea as it was developed inthese different locations. For example, Stroud followed more closely theRegiogeld model from Germany and included a demurrage feature.9
Due to the individuals involved, the Brixton Pound developed close linkswith the new economics foundation (nef), an environmental NGO that hasspecific interest in more radical and ‘new economic’ approaches to solving
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ecological and social problems.10 Nef developed a project to address some ofthe problems being encountered by these early experiments under theauspices of ‘Transition Currency 2.0’ project. The credibility and contacts ofnef enabled them to approach the Tudor Trust (a charitable trust) forfinancial support to develop a Transition 2.0 currency model. Central to thisis the development of a platform that will facilitate electronic transactions.The development of the Transition 2.0 project could therefore be interpretedas a form of ‘global’ niche, insofar as it is concerned with the development ofa shared problem agenda and a set of protocols and systems that willpotentially flow back down to the ‘local’ experiments. Piloting of theelectronic Brixton Pound began in September 2011, along with the plannedlaunch of a new experiment in Bristol.
CONCLUSION
This chapter has sought to illustrate how framing complementary currenciesas experimental technologies can shed light on sustainability innovation that
Totnes Pound experimental currency niche
Lewes, Stroud, Brixton develop own local experimental niches
new economics foundation instigate development of global transition currency niche by networking existing systems and attracting resources from Tudor Trust to develop Transition 2.0 Currency
Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3
QOIN - Dutch based complementary currency NGO
Bristol - new project involved in developing 2.0 model
backing for 2.0 model
new economics foundation
Fig. 5. Emerging Transition Currency ‘Global’ Niche?
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emerges from civil society. Using the example of the Totnes Pound currency,it has shown how the analytical framework provided by SNM andassociated ‘niche’ theories can provide some insights into the struggles todevelop such grassroots sustainability innovations. It has shown that thework of grassroots enterprises does not simply involve the delivery of goodsand services but can also entail experimentation and the management of riskand uncertainty. Indeed, as in the case of the Totnes Pound, it may be thatengaging with ‘the market’ is not a viable mechanism for the enterprise tosustain itself. To date, Totnes Currency has not traded in a conventionalsense but nor is it a charitable endeavour. It is not a social enterprise in theclassic sense (e.g. Pearce, 2003) but has a strong social purpose and a need tofind a viable mechanism to resource itself sufficiently. This example, and thegrowth of other forms of grassroots environmental initiatives such as formsof collaborative consumption (Botsman & Rogers, 2010), means that wemay need to be more sensitive both to the variety of grassroots sustainabilityorganisations that exist and the types of activities that they undertake.Furthermore, there are questions about the trajectory of such ‘non-market’experimental niches that this case only begins to explore. Understanding theprocesses of scaling up and institutional embedding of such non-marketniches are questions for further empirical enquiry.
The lens of SNM has provided some useful insights into the struggles ofgrassroots innovation and could be applied in other contexts and domains ofactivity. The niche metaphor provides a useful concept for understanding theprocess by which innovations scale up from the margins to ‘the mainstream’.Indeed, exploring the niche processes themselves can then highlight thespecific barriers and problems in any given case. The example of the TotnesPound illustrates how, in practice, the three niche-building processes areclosely entwined. Thus, the process of building and maintaining nichenetworks is inevitably a process of managing expectations about theperformance of the technology. Doing so is a difficult task, especially giventhat a certain degree of claims-making and promise-making is required forniche-building purposes. The fragile nature of the social economy projectmeans that sponsors must be attracted either by drawing them into theproblem frame or perhaps by reframing the technology to solve a problemthat interests them. Otherwise, resources must be secured by deliveringtangible functionality to other niche actors. What the case has also illustratedis that the benefits (functions) that such innovations can deliver are likely to bevaried and not necessarily explicitly linked to environmental objectives.
A final relevant observation is that the literature on experimental nicheshas become increasingly pessimistic about the potential of radical niches to
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break through and scale up (Hoogma et al., 2002). This has led to anincreasing interest in the conditions under which niches might be able toinfluence incumbent systems, so called Transition Pathways (Geels & Schot,2010). An observation from this strand of work is that there is often thenecessity for a regime ‘crisis’ before a niche has the possibility to breakthrough. These arguments are instructive for those who are trying todevelop complementary currency systems. One implication is that theincumbent system may need to be in deep crisis before alternatives areadopted. Within the currency field there are historical examples of suchcases from Great Depression and the Argentinean economic crisis of the late1990s (North, 2007). In such cases the currencies acted as a kind of‘expedient technology’ (Taylor, 2010) whereby they met a societal needwhere a dominant system is failing. Much of the work of the TransitionTown movement is about preparing for what is perceived to be an imminent,unfolding crisis. A socio-technological reading of this would suggest thatuntil the systems Transition Towns are attempting to reform experience amore tangible and protracted crisis, it might be difficult for their parallelsystems to gain wider credibility and support.
NOTES
1. See for example the recent special edition of the International Journal ofTechnology Management (2010, Vol. 51, No. 1). The European Commission has alsorecently launched the Social Innovation Europe network following a report by theBureau of European Advisers (see Hubert, 2010).2. The other two being store of value and unit of account (see e.g. Burton &
Brown, 2009, pp. 24–26).3. As a ‘mature’ system that has diffused around the globe, LETS is a good
example of a system that has been used for different purposes in different places andcontexts. For example, in the UK there was some interest in it as a policy instrumentto address social exclusion (e.g. Williams et al., 2001). It has also been used as a toolto integrate refugees (Smets & ten Kate, 2008). It was also advocated as a tool tobuild postcapitalist economies (Dobson, 1993). Furthermore, the way in which itseems to function more effectively as a social networking tool as opposed to aneconomic one is something that has emerged from the literature (Williams, 1995).
4. For a more detailed description of the origins of the Totnes Pound, seeLonghurst (2010a) on which this section draws.5. Translation here is understood in the sense first developed by Serres (1982) to
reflect the way in which ideas are transformed as they travel and which has becomecentral to actor network theory.6. Subsequent transition currencies have been more successful in attracting
sponsors to their niches. It would be interesting to understand in more detail how
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this was achieved and what promises were made to the sponsors. Also, whether theexistence of the Totnes Pound and other currencies was itself beneficial.7. Flichy (2007), Smith (2006) and Hess (2005) have all related notions of
boundary objects and technological development, although in different ways to thischapter.8. See also the similar work on hype-disappointment cycles (Verbong, Geels, &
Raven, 2008) and the wider work on technological ‘hype cycles’ (e.g., Bakker, 2010).9. Demurrage is a concept first proposed by Silvio Gesell (1929), sometimes
known as ‘rusting money’. The idea is that money loses its value over time, toencourage it to be spent.10. For example, in the currency field the nef was instrumental in bringing Time
banking to the UK. For an overview of ‘new economics’, see Boyle & Simms (2009)or Seyfang (2009).
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
It would not have been possible to write this chapter without the support ofthe Leverhulme Trust through the Grassroots Innovations: ComplementaryCurrencies project. My thanks also to the two anonymous reviewers fortheir helpful comments and to the Totnes Pound team for allowing me toengage in participatory research with the project.
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